When William Byron enters this year’s Daytona 500 as the defending champion, he knows that he can make history. But is that weighing down on the Hendrick Motorsports driver? Not at all.

Ahead of the race, Byron spoke to FOX NASCAR on his chances of winning again. “I hope so... Part of it’s unpredictable, but yeah just go down there and have a good speed weeks and even if we don’t, it doesn’t necessarily matter for Sunday.”

Only five drivers have won the Daytona 500 in consecutive years: Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin, Denny Hamlin, and William Byron. However, none of these legends were able to make it three in a row.

That's why the next question to Byron was if he felt any pressure, to which he coolly replied, “I never feel like I put too much pressure on it anyways but always want to go down there and have a good showing but it doesn’t change anything.”

Going into the race, William Byron is in strong form. During the Cookout Clash at Bowmay Grey, he finished in second place behind Ryan Preece. And before his 33rd-place finish at Phoenix to end the season, Byron had a win at Martinsville.

And with a potentially historic moment on the line, Byron knows it's going to be a tough fight.

William Byron Talks About Rivals Ahead of Daytona 500

When asked what he thought about the other drivers, Byron said, "I won't have a lot of friends. I could see it being that way."

And that's for good reason. The Daytona 500 is arguably the biggest NASCAR race. Whoever wins not only gets millions of dollars, but it's also about the prestige of being a winner as well.

And talking about his strategy, Byron opened up about drafting, since it's a major.

"If you know what you're doing and you make good decisions, then guys typically work with you.  I do think coming down to the end, it could be tough for me to have those allies and those friends to make a move. Just got to be smart about it and probably not overthink it too much. Just react to what I feel and what I see."

Written by

Shyam Hari

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar