William Byron: NASCAR Cup Chase 2026 Preview

William Byron has clinched the 13th seed in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series chase in what has been a downcast season for the No. 24 team.

Byron has won multiple races during the regular season in each of the previous four seasons until 2026.

Despite the disappointing 26-race run, this is Byron’s eight straight and total Cup Series postseason.

The regular season has played out eerily similar to his 2020 Cup Series season. Both delivered promise and long cold-streaks.

But how similar were the two and can William Byron snap out of it to make a run at his first title?

Covid Season Comparison

William Byron’s digressed and depressed 2026 season draws similarities to his 2020 season.

Throughout the entire regular season Byron has averaged a starting position of a 14.9 which mirrors his 2020 average on the nose. Compared to 2025 and 2024 his average start is a whopping five positions lower.

Then, his average finish this season had been a 16.2 in 2020 and currently is only .1 of a position lower with a 16.1 average result. The lower average finishes has been a trend for three consecutive seasons now.

In 2023 he peaked at an 11.0, then in 2024 he dropped two spots to 12.9. Last season it dropped another place and a half to 14.5 and the trend only continued this season to where it is now.

Byron had eight finishes outside of the top 20 prior to the postseason in 2020 and now a larger ten finishes outside the top 20 this year in the first 26-races.

The comparison also trickles into the amount of laps led. Byron has led only 176 circuits so far this year which is his fewest since 2020. The majority of those laps came in his fourth, and final so far, top-five finish at Chicagoland.

Currently, he has also equaled the amount of poles he had in the covid impacted season with zero. If he continues his poor qualifying trend, it will become his first season since without qualifying on the top spot in the series.

Unfortunately for Byron, the covid comparisons continue into the postseason.

2026 Chase Outlook

Byron’s 13th seed is the lowest point of entry into a postseason since 2020 where he entered the playoffs in the bottom four and finished the season as the 14th-placed driver.

An 85-point deficit to championship leader Denny Hamlin might be too much to claw back to.

The one thing the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 has on his side is time. Ten races and multiple next-gen wins from four of the tracks can have Byron entertaining a top ten run in the standings.

His CookOut Southern 500 tonight will have to mirror his tremendous spring results from the track in order to steer his Chase run in the right direction.

If he can rebound to his multi-race winning form and finish where his eight-best average running position currently stands, a top ten finish in the points for the former championship four appearing driver is very much possible.

Ceiling: Ninth Floor: 14th

Byron’s Season Overview

2026 Stats

• 0 wins
  • Best finish of 3rd twice
• 0 poles
  • 1 front-row start
• 3 stage wins
• 4 top-five finishes, 11 top-ten finishes, 3 DNF’s
• 14.9 avg start, 16.1 avg finish
  • Avg. Running Position of 14.272 (eighth-best)
• 176 laps led (13th-best)
  • Led season-high 94 laps in a fourth-placed Chicagoland run
• Driver Rating of 86.5 (eighth-best)

Strengths

• Running inside the top ten
• Saturday’s
• Driver-crew chief relationship

Weaknesses

• Completing top ten days
• Batting lower than his average
• Living up to winning potential