January 24 2017: during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.
Photo – HHP/Andrew Coppley
Tuesday afternoon’s portion of the 35th Annual NASCAR Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway kicked off with JR Motorsports driver and NASCAR XFINITY Series rookie William Byron. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native won seven Camping World Truck Series last year and led the field for 22 percent of all the laps he ran in 2016, justifying his progression to the XFINITY Series.
“I’m really excited to take Liberty University with us to the XFINITY Series and get the season started,” said Byron, who is taking classes at the school during his off-days. “The XFINITY Series schedule will be a lot tighter this year, but hopefully it’s a seamless transition.”
Where Byron would like to better his 2016 Camping World Truck Series campaign is in the finish. A 27th-place finish, thanks to an unlucky engine issue, at Phoenix left him out of championship contention in the finale at Homestead, a race he won from the pole position.
“It was an unfortunate situation last year, but you can’t really look at that,” Byron said.
“I think if we do have a good season this year and if we have a situation like that come up again it feels a lot more comforting we can get through to Homestead with our previous success throughout the year. I’m just glad the sport keeps trying to innovate itself.”