Courtesy of TMS Media Relations
FORT WORTH, Texas – William Byron took a brief timeout from his pursuit of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship to take in all that goes into a PBR Teams Texas Rattlers practice session at the Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards.
The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was in town to promote the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Playoffs at Texas Motor Speedway Sept. 23-24.
Byron met with Texas Rattlers riders, including Joao Ricardo Viera and Daniel Keeping, to learn the process of what it takes to prepare for and then hold onto a bucking bull, weighing anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 lbs., for eight seconds.
“I’ve never been able to see something like this up close and it’s definitely a lot different than I expected,” said Byron, who finished seventh in last year’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 and has one top-five and four top-10 finishes at Texas Motor Speedway. “Just all that they go through right before they get on the bull and the mindset (they have) is what I noticed. It’s cool to watch the progression of how they balance.”
Byron entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed based on five wins during the regular season and is still the points leader after last Sunday’s opening round at Darlington Raceway, though Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson automatically transferred to the second round with the Southern 500 victory.
“Texas is obviously the first playoff race of the second round so got to get through the first round, got two more weeks, so I’m looking forward to the race here at Texas. It’s a big deal. Hopefully, at Kansas (this weekend), we bring some of that speed and bring it here to Texas.”
The NASCAR Playoffs weekend will be highlighted by the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 on Saturday, Sept. 23 (2:30 p.m. CT on USA Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90, and PRN), and the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sunday, Sept. 24 (2:30 p.m. CT on USA Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90, PRN, and 95.9 The Ranch-local).
Texas Motor Speedway’s always-busy events schedule is well underway. Upcoming events in 2023 include Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Playoffs weekend (Sept. 23-24), Goodguys’ Summit Racing Lone Start Nationals (Sept. 29-Oct. 1), Speedway Children’s Charities Smoke Show (Oct. 11) and Gordy’s Hwy 30 Music Fest (Oct. 19-22). The year wraps up with the family-favorite and speedway tradition Gift of Lights holiday light show.
