William Byron needed IV after Martinsville race due to extreme heat

William Byron was exhausted after battling his way into the Championship 4 via his performance at Martinsville last weekend.

The Hendrick Motorsports star didn’t win his way to Phoenix, and was forced to make the cut-off by points last weekend, defeating drivers like Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. in the process. However, an added wrinkle of Byron’s helmet fan not working properly was something he had to overcome last Sunday.

Ahead of Sunday’s championship deciding race, Byron provided some more detail as to how the heat affected him last weekend, including that he needed an IV after the contest.

“I got an IV Monday night. So I felt pretty good Monday night,” Byron said, via FOX’s Bob Pockrass. “It was tough. I don’t know what we had going on with the helmet fan, but we could not get cool. I was just way overheated. Took awhile for my skin to kind of get the redness out. Get back to normal. I feel good.

“I haven’t had issues like that all year. It was just one of those deals. Well, we had that issue at Martinsville in the spring. We thought we made it better. We moved where our helmet fans mounted to get some fresher air, like the No. 5 has it in their car. Hopefully it’s better.”

Ahead of this weekend’s race at Phoenix, where it won’t exactly be that much cooler, if at all, Byron has moved his helmet fan in an attempt to avoid what happened to him last week, although he believes it was more of a Martinsville issue in the long run.

“We moved it for this week,” the No. 24 wheelman stated. “So the way the helmet fan’s mounted is a little bit different. So it hopefully catches some fresher air.

“But I think it’s mostly a Martinsville issue, because of how hot it is, and how slow the track is. Just with everything being kind of low and getting warm, I think that’s what happens.”

Nevertheless, Byron won’t be taking any chances, as he wants it to come down to what happens on the track, not how hot it is in his car.

William Byron has been one of the best drivers all season long, and he has his first chance at a title in 2023. Will he break through the glass ceiling and capture the trophy? We’ll see what happens in the desert at Phoenix on Sunday.