William Byron, the driver of the #9 Vannoy Construction Chevrolet, sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 20, 2017, in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo – Chris Trotman/Getty Images

William Byron is right in the middle of a heated battle for the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship, but that doesn’t mean he’s not preparing for next year’s quantum leap to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Though Byron has yet to run his first Cup race, he has been spending time driving a simulator for Hendrick Motorsports to help Hendrick’s current Cup competitors prepare for their events. Alex Bowman, who will take over the No. 88 Chevrolet from Dale Earnhardt Jr. next year shoulders most of the simulator duty, but Byron also takes advantage of the opportunity.

“I go in there and help them with Cup Series stuff most of the time,” said Byron, who is the top seed in the XFINITY standings. “Sometimes they give us stuff from XFINITY, but most of the time it’s Cup stuff and seeing what they’re going to do for the weekend.

“It’s a very helpful tool, and I’m very thankful for Chevy’s support to have that there for us. A critical part of the sport right now is doing those things. We’re trying to keep developing in it, and I think it’s going really well. I just enjoy being in there and being able to use it.”