Majority of NASCAR race sponsors have held their sponsorship

Majority of NASCAR race sponsors have held their sponsorship

Kevin Harvick picked William Byron to win this past Sunday’s Cup Series playoff opener at Atlanta. That didn’t work out for either Harvick or Byron, but the FOX Sports analyst is doubling down on the Hendrick Motorsports driver once more.

Harvick, making his pick for this Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen, went with Byron to get to Victory Lane.

“I went with William Byron this week,” Harvick said on his “Happy Hour” podcast. “I should have waited a week. If I could go back and make all my changes after watching Atlanta, I would make different picks. But I’m gonna Willy B again this week because of his success on the road courses. I think he’s due to have a great run. They’ve had some OK runs but nothing great lately.”

There’s no doubt that Byron is due. Byron is winless since claiming three checkered flags in the first eight races of the season, including the Daytona 500. Byron struggled to find speed and finish well throughout the summer, entering the postseason riding a 12-race streak where he failed to pick up any playoff points.

William Byron finding groove heading into Watkins Glen

Byron was competitive at Atlanta, finishing ninth, his second top-10 in the last six races.

“We had a little bit of handling issues in the first stage, but we overcame that,” Byron said after the race. “We got eighth-place stage points. The second stage was pretty good. We were up towards the front. And then in the final stage, we were up in the front the whole time. We were just trying to save fuel.

“I feel like we did a good job, for the most part. Just the second-to-last restart, I wasn’t quite sure who to push when they were three-wide in front of me, and I got trapped three-wide bottom and lost some spots.”

Going into Watkins Glen, he is 33 points clear of the cutline. Byron has been strong at Watkins Glen in his career, winning the fall race last year.