Byron on gutsy effort: ‘I just had to drive the hell out of it’
William Byron reacts to making it into the championship race at Phoenix Raceway after a hard-fought day at Martinsville Speedway.
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00:00 >> Yeah, we'll get to the heat with William Byron in a moment.
00:03 You saw there racing for his first ever championship.
00:06 What did you say to me when you sat down?
00:09 Worst race of my career with the best result.
00:11 I call it a slug fest with about 50 to go.
00:13 Is that a fair description?
00:14 >> Yeah, man, I just -- obviously we're not very good.
00:19 Our worst race of the year.
00:20 But it was -- these guys deserve it so much.
00:23 They work so hard.
00:24 And you know, honestly, I just -- probably 50 to go.
00:29 I felt really, really bad.
00:32 And I just had to drive the hell out of it.
00:36 And the guys stuck with me.
00:37 They just kept motivating me through little bits and pieces and just kind of keeping my
00:42 mind straight.
00:43 And I'm just really thankful for them.
00:46 It was just -- yeah, like you said, it was a slug fest.
00:50 Thanks, bud.
00:51 Appreciate it.
00:52 >> Eric Atmer all in.
00:53 >> It was -- you know, just appreciate everyone racing me good there at the end.
00:57 Congrats to Ryan.
00:58 Really happy for him.
01:00 Brother-in-law.
01:01 He was really fast.
01:04 But man, we just had to hang on.
01:05 And I just had to dig a little bit deeper.
01:08 I knew when I got out of the car I was just beat.
01:10 But the result just means more than anything.
01:13 These guys work so hard.
01:14 And we've worked so hard all season.
01:16 And I'm just really proud of them.
01:17 >> How tough were the conditions today?
01:19 We also talked about how you were saying it was unusually hot inside the 24 car.
01:24 >> Yeah, I think we just -- my helmet fan wouldn't work.
01:27 Obviously my face is bright red.
01:28 My cool shirt was -- all that stuff was great.
01:30 But when your head is just blowing like a hair dryer, it's really tough.
01:35 We trained for that.
01:36 And you just try to find a little bit more.
01:40 You're not going to pull in.
01:41 I guarantee you that.
01:43 With plus 7 or plus 8, whatever, I was going to faint before I was going to finish or,
01:48 you know, get out of the race.
01:50 You know, just really proud of the team.
01:52 They deserve this.
01:53 And we've worked really hard for it.
01:54 So it's nice to see it pay off.
01:56 >> Rick, the championship race at Phoenix.
01:58 Guess who won at Phoenix in the spring?