“There will be a big challenge”: William Byron says Team Penske’s absence won’t make Championship 4 any easier

William Byron headlined the Xfinity 500 race at Martinsville Speedway with his exciting win over Ryan Blaney for a Championship 4 spot. This ended Team Penske's impressive three-year streak of making and winning the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

During a post-race interaction with the media, Byron was asked if there would be any relief in not facing Penske stars Blaney and Joey Logano at the finale in Phoenix. The Hendrick Motorsports driver said (via asapsports.com):

"I don't know. I mean, everyone's really good in this series. I think you saw an awesome battle between us and the 12[Ryan Blaney]. I told Jeff [Gordon] earlier in the weekend, I said, If you don't win here, it doesn't matter for next week, right?

The No. 24 driver believed the Championship 4 race would be another big challenge after conquering the Martinsville playoff race in a must-win scenario. He continued:

"I feel like the challenge was tonight for us. There will be another big challenge next week. It's not like we're thinking, Oh, we got off easy because they're not in it. It's not nothing like that. Denny, Chase, Kyle are amazing competitors. We're going to have to do everything we can do next week to win that one, too."

This was William Byron's third win of the season. The 27-year-old will now prepare for his third Championship 4 appearance and will battle teammate Kyle Larson for a maiden NASCAR title. The HMS duo will be joined by two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, at Phoenix on November 2.

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William Byron makes his feelings known after outdueling Ryan Blaney in Martinsville

William Byron - NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Race at Martinsville - Source: Imagn

William Byron ran one of his greatest races at the track in his eighth full-time season with Hendrick Motorsports. The two-time Dayton 500 winner dominated the Xfinity 500 event by starting the playoff race on pole, sweeping all the stages, and leading a career-high of 304 laps at the 0.526-mile track in Virginia.

In a post-race interview after his dominant run, Byron shared his honest thoughts and said:

"We just worked so hard, all these guys work so hard. You put everything into Sundays. Sometimes you don’t get anything in return. That’s been the last couple weeks. Honestly, throughout the year, had some close calls. But yeah, sometimes life is that way. You just got to keep being resilient. We were. Just feels damn good."

In his 35 starts this season, William Byron has recorded three wins, 11 top-fives, and 16 top-10s. As the Chevy driver prepares for his maiden NASCAR title, he will compete against teammate Kyle Larson, the sole former Cup champion among the four contenders for the coveted trophy.