While Kyle Larson fights for the title, William Byron has a winless season to worry about. Talladega puts both drivers in the same pack, but they have different reasons to get to the front. We have Kyle Larson, who needs every point he can get, and Byron, who has gone the entire 2026 season without a win.
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They drive for the same team, but that does not mean they have the same race to run.
“For me, it’s pretty simple. We haven’t won a race this year, so we’re trying to win a race and always help my teammates because that’s better than helping the other guys,” Byron told Frontstretch.
There is little ambiguity in Byron’s answer. He wants to help Kyle Larson, but he is not going to pretend his own season doesn’t. With the championship fight tightening and the calendar running out, Talladega offers both drivers something to chase.
Neither driver, however, can control what happens once the field bunches up. At a track where cars depend on one another to build speed, teamwork is more than a friendly gesture.
Drivers line up in the draft, push one another forward, and look for openings in the pack. A push from Byron could help Larson gain positions, but one wreck could end either driver’s race before the other even knows what happened.
Byron said Hendrick Motorsports has an advantage because its four drivers work well together. Pitting together and drafting together comes naturally to the group. The trouble starts when some of those cars get caught in an accident and another survives.
“There’s always an emphasis on working with your teammates. Fortunately, for our group, the four of us work very well together, so it’s easy to pit together and easy to draft together,” he said.
Larson came to Talladega leading NASCAR’s new 10-race Chase, with Christopher Bell only five points behind. Christopher Bell was only five points behind, with Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin also close enough to apply pressure. Unlike the previous elimination-style format, the new system carries points forward through the postseason. There is no reset to erase a bad afternoon.
Every position matters to Larson’s title bid, but Byron has a more immediate problem.
He entered the race 14th in the standings, 190 points behind his teammate, and still had no victory to show for the season. Helping Kyle Larson makes sense when their interests align, but Byron also needs to make something happen for himself.
That is not necessarily a conflict between teammates. It is the reality of a four-car team competing in a race where cooperation can decide who reaches the front. Byron can give Kyle Larson a push without surrendering his own opportunity. But if they end up separated late in the race, the priorities become harder to balance.
The championship is only part of what Byron is watching this weekend. Byron expects teams to have a better understanding of the cars than they did at Daytona, where the aerodynamic package left engineers guessing about the right balance between downforce and drag. More preparation should help them make informed adjustments, although it cannot remove the unpredictability of pack racing.
He also has concerns about the physical demands NASCAR’s current Cup cars face at Phoenix Raceway. Drivers cut across the dogleg apron rather than follow the full track layout, gaining a shorter route during restarts. Byron believes the transition is unnecessarily rough on the cars and drivers.
“It’s just not good for the body and not good for the car. It’s a lot rougher than the O’Reilly cars going down there.”
Byron had driven at Phoenix in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series earlier this year and noticed how differently those cars handled the same section. He would like NASCAR to smooth the surface without removing the dogleg altogether. The shortcut creates options on restarts, and he believes those opportunities are worth preserving.
He wants the dogleg to stay, but he doesn’t think drivers should have to take that much punishment to use it. The dogleg adds excitement, but that does not mean the current surface cannot be improved. Similarly, teamwork can help Hendrick’s championship hopes, but it cannot guarantee every driver gets the result he needs.
Byron admitted Talladega’s late position on the schedule could make recovery more difficult after a poor finish. Still, he expects the timing to create plenty of drama. Kyle Larson has a championship lead to defend, while Byron is still looking for the win that has eluded him all year.
Their goals may differ, but Byron has not ruled out helping his teammate. He has simply made his own position clear. Hendrick Motorsports can work together, but Byron still has a season of his own to save.