William Byron makes his Cup series debut at Michigan

William Byron is 100/1 to win Sunday at Michigan.

William Byron on racing at Michigan:
“Michigan is really fast. I’ve been there in a truck and in an (NASCAR) Xfinity (Series) car. The trucks are so different it’s hard to compare, but the Xfinity car was fast, so it’s a little more comparable to what the (NASCAR) Cup (Series) car will be. You’re going down the straightaway and into the corner really quickly, so vibrations are always a lot bigger there and things happen a lot faster. That’s the biggest thing at Michigan. I had good success there last year, and I feel like our Hendrick Motorsports engine package there works really well and I think that should be a key to success there this weekend. Obviously, you have to move around a little bit in the race, but the groove is fairly narrow, so you’ve got to stay disciplined the whole race.”

MICHIGAN STATS: Byron will make his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Michigan International Speedway this weekend, but the Cup Series rookie of the year contender has experienced success at the two-mile oval in the other NASCAR national series. In his lone Xfinity Series race at Michigan, Byron started fourth and finished second, just missing capturing the win after leading eight of the final nine laps of the race. He rebounded to win the next two Xfinity Series races at Iowa and Daytona. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has one start at the Brooklyn, Michigan, track in the Camping World Truck Series in 2016, when he qualified third and led nine laps en route to a fourth-place finish.

MICAH ROBERTS' TAKE: #24 William Byron (100/1) - I like what I'm seeing out of the rookie and as the entire stable of HMS Camaros shows more speed, we're constantly seeing the kid running well on all tracks. He was 15th at Fontana. This will be his first laps turned in the Cup Series at Michigan and he should be fine just because there's lots of room allowing him to stay out of trouble.