NASCAR: Is William Byron Better Than He Is Given Credit For?
William Byron has struggled to get a footing in the early races of the 2022 NASCAR season. Byron did end up in the bottom 30 in the first two races. However, he showed more promise as Las Vegas and Phoenix, scoring points in both races and winning a stage at the latter. With this notion, is he better than people have been giving him credit for? Or is he rated properly and is just capable of doing well due to the points system? In this article, we will cover this topic, and indulge in whether or not he should be ranked higher by fans.
William Byron wins Stage 1. Playoff point for him.
Also getting stage points:
2. Briscoe
3. Elliott
4. Reddick
5. Bowman
6. Bell
7. Larson
8. Harvick
9. Logano
10. ADillon— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 13, 2022
Compared to other 2018 rookies
William Byron is generally compared to his teammates. This comparison is where he is immediately given an unfair shake from the get-go. Comparing Byron to two championship winners who are 2 years and 5 years older than him (Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson respectively) is a poor analysis. Byron is 24 years of age and does not have the experience in driving so far that Elliott or Larson has. Comparing him to Alex Bowman makes slightly more sense, but is still relatively lopsided. Bowman has run 229 races over 8 years, comparatively to Byron’s 148 over 5 years. The only two rookies who came into the sport the same year as Byron (2018) are Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain. Out of these 3, Byron won rookie of the year. He has also made the playoffs in all 3 seasons while neither Chastain or Wallace has made it once yet.
William Byron WINS to make the NASCAR Playoffs! His first career win!
Credit One Lap To Go presented by @CreditOneBank. pic.twitter.com/1zwi1jWCNj
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 30, 2020
If we would look to compare statistics of these 3 drivers, it would be heavily in favor of Byron. Byron has 52 top 10 finishes and 2 wins. Comparatively, Chastain and Wallace combined have 1 win and 24 top 10s. Now granted, Byron has the advantage of a great car and a great team which gives him an advantage over these two. However, he has simply outperformed any competition from his rookie class and has been at bare minimum a good driver.
Byron’s 2022 campaign struggles
Many will now ask if he was good in previous seasons then why is he struggling for 2022. In 2022, he has been caught up in a few struggles that simply were not his fault. At Daytona, he was taken out in a crash that was not his fault (see link below). Harrison Burton gets turned around in the outside lane, crossing in front of Byron and sending him into the inside barriers. This would leave Byron with only 2 points from stage 1, as he could not complete stages 2 or 3. How about Auto Club? In Fontana, Byron had Tyler Reddick in front of him who cut down a tire in the middle of the turn. On the exit, Byron got very loose and tried to recover, but ended up hitting Reddick as he was right at the exit of the turn.
Breaking down Harrison Burton's big flip in the Daytona 500. #RaceHub pic.twitter.com/FeJBZsqgKl
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 22, 2022
Byron finished with 14 points at Fontana, which left him with 16 after 2 races. How about the last two races at Las Vegas and Phoenix? Byron has had 49 points at LV, and 38 at Phoenix. In both races, he had some great stage point value and had top 10s in many of the stages. At Vegas, he finished top 5, and at Phoenix, he won stage 1, so why is he still 15th in the standings? He is this low because he has been 50/50 so far due to the two crashes shown above.
Final Analysis
With this, Byron should still be expected to make the playoffs for a 4th straight season. While Byron may not be a champion yet, or on the level of top drivers in the sport, he is still a quality driver who deserves his seat. He is not a driver who will win every race and dominate. Rather, he is a points driver who has thrived off top 10s, which is completely fine.
Won a stage. Showed speed. Closed out the west coast swing. See y’all on the east coast! 🤙#Axalta24 | #KeepMovingForward pic.twitter.com/FWa6d1KbxZ
— Axalta Racing (@AxaltaRacing) March 14, 2022
Byron may not be a flashy driver name like Elliott or Larson, and may not be as dominant as them. Where he succeeds is when he can get put in a position to get points every stage. If Hendrick Motorsports can improve his pit stop times, and let him continue this 2 race streak, he should be fine.
