William Byron Returns to World Series, Victory Lane

It had been since the Slinger Nationals in July that William Byron had won a race of any kind and it was started to wear thin.

And with the Daytona 500 right around the corner, what a better way to start his season than with a dominant victory in his return to the World Series of Asphalt with a Race Two victory at New Smyrna Speedway on Monday night.

“I’m glad I remembered how to drive,” Byron said after the race.

“I got nervous at the end with all those restarts, and not sure what to expect, because I’ve just been a little bit off in these cars. I think it’s more so me than the cars and not knowing what to adjust.

“I think I finally found something in practice that saw me through for qualifying and the race. It’s good. These guys are working hard, and the momentum is nice heading towards the Cup side and the Southern Super Series race tomorrow night too.”

Byron posted the fifth quickest speed in time trials but was inverted to the front row when Casey Roderick again posted the fast time but drew a ‘6’ in the invert. This allowed Byron to get the jump on Night One winner William Sawalich at the start and led every step of the way despite a pair of late restarts.

Could Byron have won from fifth?

“I don’t know because I haven’t had that many chances too yet,” Byron said. “I never ran Speedweeks until last year. I don’t have a ton of experience in these 35 lap races, but I knew if I could get control of the race early, I could maintain on the restarts.

“We had a good enough car that I could just drive away and I’m proud of that, and proud to have good restarts and put ourselves in a good spot.”

Roderick was keenly aware of how fast Byron was on the straights and said the invert nor any other factor was likely to deny the Donnie Wilson Motorsports No. 24 the win on Monday.

“We had to run so hard just to get up there,” Roderick said. “I feel like we made some improvements today. It’s just not good enough. We’re getting beat down the straightaway a good bit. William, on that restart, hell, pulled me a car length and a half or two down the straights.

“We got some work to do there. I feel like our handling is good. It’s just working to match the speed.”

At one point, before the final caution, all three Wilson Motorsports cars were running 1-2-3. With a win and third over the first two days, William Sawalich leaves Race Two with an early World Series of Asphalt points lead but that’s of little consequence this early in the week.

“We’re just going for wins and trying to stay consistent,” Sawalich said. “If we do that, we’ll be in pretty good shape for that stuff.”

Seeing Sawalich improve so much over the past year is part of the joy Byron has in racing with Wilson Motorsports, serving as a mentor of sorts to their younger driver. Byron clearly enjoys working with this team and driving their cars.

“These guys are the best in the business here right now, and I’m just learning from them,” Byron said. “Just trying to help these younger guys too. I try to help where I can and give back to short track racing.

“I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t love it. I’ve grown more and more love for this kind of racing the more I’ve done it. This car. Someone asked me what I wanted to do beyond Cup, and I said I would drive these cars every week if I could. And that’s the plan.”

Super Late Model World Series of Asphalt Race 2
New Smyrna Speedway
February 13 2023

1. William Byron
2. Casey Roderick
3. William Sawalich
4. Gio Ruggiero
5. Brad May
6. Conner Jones
7. Derek Griffith
8. Jake Finch
9. James Lynch
10. Connor Mosack
11. Bubba Pollard
12. Johnny Sauter
13. Stewart Friesen
14. Gabe Sommers
15. Jett Noland
16. Daniel Webster
17. Billy VanMeter
18. Justin Crider
19. Kris Wright
20. Matt Craig
21. Tony Elrod
22. Steve Weaver, Jr.
23. Chris Durbin
24. Nicholas Naugle
25. Michael Hinde
26. Stephen Nasse
27. Kyle Bryant

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