William Byron insists he isn’t looking at the points standings more frequently now than he did earlier in the season, instead he’s resigned to the tried-and-true of just putting in his best effort each week.
The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet takes an 18-point advantage over his teammate Chase Elliott into the weekend. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson is only 45 points off the pace – all three reasonable threats for the regular season title.
All three have wins at Watkins Glen. Byron won in 2023, and Larson (2021-22) and Elliott (2018-19) each scored back-to-back trophies here; Elliott’s win in 2018 marking his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory.
“It’s on the front of our mind, for sure, during the week,’’ Byron said of the tight competition atop the standings. “I’m sure every driver’s guilty of looking at the points right after the race. So yeah, as soon as we get those after the event, we just look at them and are like — okay, here’s where we’re at and here’s how many points we got this weekend. It’s more before and after the weekend.
“I would say there’s very little decision-making during the race that changes because of the points. I think you just try to run the best race that you can, and typically that’s how you get the most points.”