William Byron shares his unfiltered feelings on “Full circle moment” of featuring on NASCAR video game cover

On Kevin Harvick’s Harvick Happy Hour, William Byron shared what it means to him to be on the cover of the new NASCAR 25 video game. He called it a “full circle moment,” tying back to how his own racing story began with video games.

The video was posted on X by HarvickHappyHour. It shows Kevin Harvick talking with Byron about the honor of being featured on the cover. In the video, Harvick asked Byron how it felt to be the face of the 2025 NASCAR game. Byron smiled as he thought back to his teenage years.

“You were the first game I played, like ’05 or something,” he told Harvick,

He added that it felt special now to be the one on the cover. Byron also said his old high school friends have been sending him pictures, reminding him of when he was just starting out.

“It’s really cool and that’s a full circle moment, that’s a pretty neat experience, and yeah kind of gave me a little bit of chills,” he said.

When Harvick asked if Byron helped make the game, William Byron explained,

“I didn’t have a ton of involvement with it but I did play it along the way and kind of gave my feedback based on that,”

At Daytona International Speedway, William Byron spoke more about why the cover reveal means so much. He pointed out that his first steps into racing came from video games.

“Growing up racing on video games primarily, obviously, everyone knows that about my story so, yeah, just a very full circle moment for me personally and great for our partners and everybody,” Byron said during the official launch.

William Byron is shown on the NASCAR 25 cover alongside his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet. The game is the first NASCAR console title made by iRacing and will be released on October 14.

It will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. The game will feature multiple levels of competition, including the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, and ARCA.

William Byron confident in #24 team heading into playoffs

William Byron also talked about the strength of his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team as they move into the playoffs. Byron ended the regular season as champion with two wins and nine top-five finishes.

When asked if he thought his team was the one to beat, Byron said, “I think we’re up there for sure,” but explained that the playoffs can change quickly and every week is different.

Looking at his team’s performance, Byron pointed to consistency and speed as their biggest strengths. He said,

“I think we’re just consistent. Speed is probably our strength. I don’t really see a huge weakness with our team,”

William Byron added that the focus now is on refining and improving every area to be even stronger. He also reviewed his runs at Iowa and Richmond.

Byron won at Iowa and placed 12th at Richmond but said Richmond showed “more promise than normal.” While he admitted there’s still work to do, Byron said he’s looking forward to the final ten races and the chance to keep building on what the team has achieved.