By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
For the third time of 2018, William Byron left a racetrack with a top 20, finishing 20th in Saturday’s Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway. And at a time where the regular season is quickly merging into playoff time, Hendrick Motorsports will need something more to make the cut.
And it’s not the entire team struggling to make the 16-driver championship; Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott are currently the final three drivers in the postseason (14th, 15th and 16th).
It’s just Byron who’s on the outside looking in. This has turned the attention to the No. 24 team in a negative way, posting questions as to why Byron’s rookie campaign has been so lackluster.
Entering 2018 as the reigning XFINITY Series champion, the 20-year-old additionally has seven Camping World Truck wins and a K&N Pro Series East championship in 2015.
His quick jump to Cup has been difficult as mentioned. Through his first 19 starts, only one has ended in the top 10 (10th at Texas in the spring) and he has earned 12 top-20 finishes. This is all good enough to put Byron 22nd in driver points, well outside pointing his way into the playoffs.
These results continued at Kentucky when Byron struggled to make improvements from his 21st-place qualifying effort to eventually finish 20th.
Moving forward, there won’t be much the team will take out of Kentucky. However, Byron now moves to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a place he won in the Truck Series in 2016 and one he is much looking forward to running at in the Cup Series.
He hopes to move on after a hard crash while testing the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Tuesday.
List of 20th-Place Finishers So Far in 2018
Daytona: Gray Gaulding
Atlanta: Alex Bowman
Las Vegas: Trevor Bayne
ISM: Trevor Bayne (2)
Auto Club: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Martinsville: William Byron
Texas: Gray Gaulding(2)
Bristol: Landon Cassill
Richmond: Ty Dillon
Talladega: DJ Kennington
Dover: Chris Buescher
Kansas: Michael McDowell
Charlotte: Kasey Kahne
Pocono: Clint Bowyer
Michigan: Jimmie Johnson
Sonoma: Kasey Kahne(2)
Chicagoland: William Byron(2)
Daytona: Trevor Bayne(3)
Kentucky: William Byron (3)
Mid-Pack With Zach: William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
For the third time of 2018, William Byron left a racetrack with a top 20, finishing 20th in Saturday’s Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway. And at a time where the regular season is quickly merging into playoff time, Hendrick Motorsports will need something more to make the cut.
And it’s not the entire team struggling to make the 16-driver championship; Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott are currently the final three drivers in the postseason (14th, 15th and 16th).
It’s just Byron who’s on the outside looking in. This has turned the attention to the No. 24 team in a negative way, posting questions as to why Byron’s rookie campaign has been so lackluster.
Entering 2018 as the reigning XFINITY Series champion, the 20-year-old additionally has seven Camping World Truck wins and a K&N Pro Series East championship in 2015.
His quick jump to Cup has been difficult as mentioned. Through his first 19 starts, only one has ended in the top 10 (10th at Texas in the spring) and he has earned 12 top-20 finishes. This is all good enough to put Byron 22nd in driver points, well outside pointing his way into the playoffs.
These results continued at Kentucky when Byron struggled to make improvements from his 21st-place qualifying effort to eventually finish 20th.
Moving forward, there won’t be much the team will take out of Kentucky. However, Byron now moves to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a place he won in the Truck Series in 2016 and one he is much looking forward to running at in the Cup Series.
He hopes to move on after a hard crash while testing the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Tuesday.
List of 20th-Place Finishers So Far in 2018
Daytona: Gray Gaulding
Atlanta: Alex Bowman
Las Vegas: Trevor Bayne
ISM: Trevor Bayne (2)
Auto Club: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Martinsville: William Byron
Texas: Gray Gaulding(2)
Bristol: Landon Cassill
Richmond: Ty Dillon
Talladega: DJ Kennington
Dover: Chris Buescher
Kansas: Michael McDowell
Charlotte: Kasey Kahne
Pocono: Clint Bowyer
Michigan: Jimmie Johnson
Sonoma: Kasey Kahne(2)
Chicagoland: William Byron(2)
Daytona: Trevor Bayne(3)
Kentucky: William Byron (3)