"These are sh*t; This is f**ked”: William Byron’s radio frustration over Bristol’s ‘terrible’ tire situation 

William Byron was not happy with the tires provided by Goodyear for Saturday's (September 13) Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver took to his team radio and went on an expletive-filled rant about how 'terrible' the new tires were.

Goodyear, NASCAR's exclusive tire manufacturer, brought softer right-side tires to tackle the high-banked oval's low tire falloff. Friday's practice saw teams extend their tire stints for over 70-80 laps. However, the main race has recorded faster tire wear.

AJ Allmendinger, who began on pole, dropped off the lead just 24 laps in and complained about his right-side tires. He eventually pitted from 12th place to replace his corded set, while Ryan Blaney went for a two-stop strategy and cleared Ty Gibbs for a Stage 1 victory.

On the other hand, Byron struggled to keep up and fell out of the top 10. NASCAR reporter John Newby shared the No. 24 driver's radio excerpt and wrote,

"These, these are bad. These are sh*t," William Byron says. "I was obviously stuck up there, but these are terrible." Rudy Fugle responds by saying that everybody will have to use every set of tires and that they will get through it." "This is f*cked, this is f*cked. Our right rears are f*cked," William Byron complains. Rudy Fugle says his current lap times are fine and that he needs a few more laps before they pit. "This is your lap time, 17.60. We gotta keep going until we get an 18.0," Newby further reported.

William Byron's HMS teammate, Kyle Larson, secured a spot in the Round of 12 despite his 24th-place finish in Stage 1. He'd accumulated enough playoff points in the first two rounds that ultimately helped him advance.

Byron, meanwhile, entered round 3 of the playoffs ranked sixth in the standings, 39 points above the playoff cutline.

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William Byron lauds Bristol's 'football stadium atmosphere'

Ahead of the 500-lap event at Bristol Motor Speedway, the track famously known as the 'last great colosseum', William Byron likened the atmosphere to that of a football stadium. He explained how it gets them going to have fans so close to the race track.

“It's cool. I think it's just a really unique place... kind of has that football stadium atmosphere, which is rare for us, I feel like. So, it just kind of gives you that little bit more adrenaline boost before the race than some of the places that are more spread out, like if you were to go to Pocono or something. It's a little bit... the fans are really distant from you,” he said via NASCAR's Instagram channel. “So I would say just a much different feel here, like more of a stadium feel than other places we go,” he added.

William Byron previously finished sixth in the Spring Bristol race. He was able to make up positions from his 26th-place start, despite low tire wear making passing difficult. The HMS driver has never won at the half-mile concrete, while his best finishes at the track are third-place in 2021 and 2022.

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Edited by Anisha Chatterjee