The last month has been mediocre for William Byron and the No. 24 team. The group hasn’t been nearly as quick. Byron, who won the regular season championship, looks sluggish to start the NASCAR Playoffs. He wasn’t all that happy with his P11 finish at Gateway.

William Byron has suffered in the past from summer slumps. It appears that the slump has lingered this season, despite his win at Iowa just a few weeks ago. While Joe Gibbs Racing is rising, Hendrick Motorsports is not doing so well.

The speed hasn’t been consistent. Performance has been “meh.” In his post-race comments on pit road, you could tell there was frustration.

“I don’t know, I don’t think we were going to make it on fuel, but uh, I mean, just a tough day,” Byron said when asked about the final caution, via Frontstretch. “I thought we were better, better than we’ve been. But we just couldn’t get the balance this weekend, so that part sucked.”

Chase Elliott was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to finish in the top-10. He came away P3. William Byron was asked about Hendrick’s performance overall at a track they have struggled at in recent years. He was more focused on his own performance.

“Just need to get a better balance on our race car,” Byron explained. “I think it seemed like we had pretty good pace, but yeah, we just couldn’t get it balanced, so it’s really hard to see what kind of pace we had.”

It has not been a great start to the NASCAR Playoffs for HMS. Alex Bowman is in a must-win position already. For now, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson are safe. But can they afford more average finishes?

William Byron has largely struggled in the summer

The race at Iowa is appearing to be more and more an anomaly. It was a fuel-saving win, and when you look at the results throughout he summer before that, it is clear that there is an issue with the 24 team.

Stage points were a major reason why Byron won the regular-season championship. That doesn’t always mean you have a fast car, though. Outside of Iowa, Byron’s last top-five finish on an oval came at Nashville Superspeedway. There have been issues outside Byron’s control for the struggles, but until that speed comes back to the 24 car, this slump will only continue.

Bristol is going to be a major test. William Byron and his Hendrick teammates, outside of Kyle Larson, need to step up and perform. Bowman has to win, Elliott can’t have a major mistake, and Byron is not completely safe either.