Former NASCAR driver commends William Byron’s ‘Gordon-esque’ performance at Martinsville

William Byron's Martinsville win earned high praise from former Cup Series driver Kyle Petty. In a segment of NASCAR's Insider the Race, Petty lauded Byron's comeback from two rough weekends at Talladega and Las Vegas.

Byron has had a rough go at the playoffs. He entered the postseason as the regular-season champion, but failed to make the top 10 in the opening rounds. New Hampshire and Kansas would prove to be a respite to his troubles, while Charlotte Roval recorded yet another mid-pack finish.

The No.24 driver later found his stride at Las Vegas, only to be met with a final stage wreck that derailed his run. Talladega nearly led to a top-5 result before he spun out near the finish line and ended up 25th.

With Martinsville as his last chance to turn things around, Byron notched up a pole start and kept his lead for 304 of the 500-lap event. A decisive pass on Ryan Blaney marked the final nail in Byron's title shot.

Reflecting upon the same, Petty said,

"I think it was very Gordon-esque as a driver when you look at it. That's a huge compliment for William Byron. These last two weeks, they ran good but they ran great at Vegas. They were in contention for two or three to go at Talladega. Those two moments would've broken a lesser team...I thought what they did was phenomenal."

William Byron will face off against Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson at Phoenix. This is the third consecutive time that Byron has qualified for the championship race.

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"Unlike anything I've ever seen": Jeff Gordon on William Byron's intense preparation

Following William Byron's dominant win at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon spoke to the press and shared the HMS driver's mindset heading into the weekend. The Cup Series veteran noted how Byron's prep has evolved.

"I know he's matured, you know, he's never lacked in effort. He'll have to share with you what kinds of things he does every week, prepping for races, but it's unlike anything I've ever seen," he said via NASCAR.

"You know, we all have things in our life going on, but, you know, he's, he's just laser beam right now. And I think that it shows in his effort, his prep, his relationship with his team and Rudy and everybody. And he had that fire today burning and was not going to hold him back," he added.

William Byron has been in the Cup Series for eight years now. Following a Xfinity Series championship in 2017, Byron entered the Cup Series with the No.24 entry after Chase Elliott vacated the number and switched to No.9. Gordon previously ran the No.24 en route to his four championships.