Hendrick Motorsports star William Byron has described 2025 as his best NASCAR season yet despite missing out on the Cup Series championship.

The 28-year-old driver finished the season finale down in 33rd at Phoenix, coming home fourth of the championship 4 as a result. However, that hardly tells the full story of his day.

Before suffering the late tire blowout that sent the race to overtime where Kyle Larson was able to snatch the victory, Byron was in second position and the driver chasing Denny Hamlin for the race and championship victory.

Indeed, despite Hamlin's dominance, Byron had stuck with him and kept him honest throughout, even if he did look to have the No. 24 covered by a couple of seconds towards the end.

So, whilst it was disappointment in the end for Byron, it wasn't a bad day in terms of the car the team brought to the track, nor his own performance.

Add in the fact he was also the regular-season champion and won a second Daytona 500 earlier in the year, and you can suddenly see why the Hendrick Motorsports driver feels it was a very strong season all around.

Byron issues verdict on 2025 campaign

“Winning the regular season championship, winning the (Daytona) 500, three races a year, is something to really be proud of," Byron explained, via Racer.

"So, yeah, I feel like it was our best year yet, honestly.”

Despite that, however, Byron was keen not to forget the tougher moments that the season had brought too, including a late tire blowout in the championship race at Phoenix when he was second and chasing race leader Denny Hamlin for the title win.

“But there was a lot of adversity and things that happened kind of all the way to the end," Byron cautioned.

"It seems like a lot changed for us in the results with about three laps to go this year. We’ve got to learn from that.”

“A lot of it was out of our control, but we’ve got to move past it.

"But overall, yeah, it was our best year with results. You see that with the regular season championship and different things.”

William Byron 2025 Cup Series stats

Race starts: 36

Points: 5004

Stage Points: 326

Wins: 3

Laps Led: 1330

Top 5: 11

Top 10s: 16