Can Byron learn from his past NASCAR mistakes in 2022 season?

William Byron has been a solid driver for Hendrick over the four years of his NASCAR career and has begun to navigate his way into contention for the 2022 Cup Series title.

The North Carolina native produced an outstanding performance in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 to win stage one and stage three, accumulating 52 points over the course of the race. Byron pushed himself within striking distance of early leaders in the race for the Cup Series title for the first time in his career.

The 24-year-old has been competitive in the sport for the last three races, but never threatened to challenge Chase Elliott or Kyle Larson. However, Byron has now propelled himself into the reckoning alongside his Hendrick team-mate Elliott, and is now backed in the NASCAR odds at +900 to win the title in 2022. It would be a remarkable achievement for Byron in only his fifth NASCAR season, but he has shown a great appetite for success.

He claimed his first major victory in 2020 in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, when he won the race after a brilliant performance in stage three, taking 44 points from the contest. It was a sign that he was ready to take the next step after placing in second at Daytona in the 2019 campaign. Byron’s performance in 2019 showed huge growth from his rookie campaign when he finished 23rd in the overall standings. A year later he surged all the way into 11th on the back of his brilliant outings at Daytona along with another fine performance to finish second at Martinsville.

Although 2020 was a year for his first victory, Byron did take a step back slightly to finish 14th in the Cup Series standings. Bryon had issues with consistency, and he saved his best for a stretch during the second half of the campaign. Unfortunately, he could not build enough momentum to move further up the rankings as poor outings at Bristol and Martinsville stymied his charge.

Byron appeared to have learned from those lessons and at the midway point in the 2021 season, he was in striking distance at the top of the Cup Series rankings behind Denny Hamlin and Larson. However, as Larson went from strength to strength in the rest of the term, Bryon faded drastically and recorded only two further finishes in the top three at Michigan and Bristol whereas Larson was relentless down the stretch.

That is where Byron can learn and grow in the 2022 campaign. He certainly has the talent and the right vehicle to make a charge for the crown, but he must develop the consistency and clinical edge to capitalize on his position. No driver in NASCAR is perfect, and there will always be peaks and troughs. But, ensuring that the low notes are not disastrous ones that knock him completely off the pace has to be his objective this term.

There would have been natural concerns after a 38th-place finish in the Daytona 500, and a 34th-place finish in California, but he has responded well and seems on course to at least make his mark in the 2022 Cup Series title race.

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