NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: Buckle Up South Carolina, Race 9 of 23, 147 Laps – 45/45/57; 200.8 Miles
Location: Darlington Raceway (1.33-mile, egg-shaped oval)
Date/Broadcast: May 12, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Beat on Byron:
William Byron will make his second of three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts this season behind the wheel of the No. 51 Silverado for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) Friday night at Darlington Raceway. Byron, who ran full-time for KBM in 2016, made his KBM return earlier this year at the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway where he came from the 14th starting position to earn a third-place finish.
Friday night’s event at Darlington will mark Byron’s first start in a truck at Darlington. In Cup Series action, the North Carolina native has recorded one pole, 77 laps led, two top-five and three top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 18.6. His lone NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the egg-shaped oval resulted in a fifth-place finish.
HendrickCars.com, the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group, will be the primary sponsor on Byron’s Silverado for Friday night’s 147-lap race. The Ricky Hendrick tribute scheme will also adorn the No. 51 for the final race of Byron’s three-race Truck Series schedule at North Wilkesboro Speedway May 20.
Byron collected a Truck-Series leading seven victories and 727 laps led driving for KBM in 2016. He earned Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors that season and led the No. 9 team to an owner’s championship with his victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The North Carolina native returned to victory lane in the Truck Series last year leading a race-high 94 laps for Spire Motorsports in the HendrickCars.com Silverado at Martinsville Speedway. Across 27 career starts in NASCAR’s Truck Series, the 25-year-old driver has totaled eight wins, three poles, 821 laps led, 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.4.
With two wins across the first 12 Cup Series races this season; Byron now has six career victories in NASCAR’s premiere division. In 2022, he finished a career-best sixth in the Cup Series championship standings and ranked third in the series with 746 laps led. Across 192 career Cup Series starts he has totaled nine poles, 1990 laps led, 29 top-five and 65 top-10 finishes. Between his time at KBM and graduating to the Cup Series in 2018, Byron captured an Xfinity Series championship and Rookie of the Year Honors for Jr. Motorsports in 2017 after totaling four wins, two poles, 262 laps led, 12 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes.
Byron, who collected KBM’s Truck Series record-breaking 51st victory at Kentucky Speedway in 2016 can etch his mark in the KBM archives again this weekend as he looks to collect the organization’s 100th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. KBM-owner driver Kyle Busch collected KBM’s record-extending 99th-career victory with his dominant victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March leaving his organization one shy of the century mark. Overall, 18 different drivers have won at least one race behind the wheel of a KBM truck, led by Busch’s 47. Four drivers rank second on the list with seven victories: Byron, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek. KBM has collected two of those victories at Darlington, most recently with John Hunter Nemechek last year. Kasey Kahne picked up the organization’s first win at “The Lady in Black” in 2011.
Veteran crew chief Brian Pattie will call the shots for the No. 51 team this year in his first season at KBM after spending the last 14 seasons atop the pit box in the NASCAR Cup Series. It took the veteran signal caller just two races to get his first win at KBM, winning with KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the Cup Series, his drivers produced six wins, nine poles, 57 top-five and 131 top-10 finishes across 528 starts. In 2012, he guided Clint Bowyer to three victories and a runner-up finish in the Cup Series championship standings. In 2017, he guided Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to two wins and a berth in the playoffs. The Florida native has also recorded 11 wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and now has two wins as a crew chief in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. This will be Pattie’s first time atop the pit box for a Truck Series event.
The No. 51 team currently ranks third in the Craftsman Truck Series owner’s point standings. Across eight starts in 2023, the team has recorded one win, one pole, 146 laps led, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 7.6. Jack Wood returns to the No. 51 Eberelestock Chevy May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch will make his final start of 2023 July 22 at Pocono Raceway.
William Byron, Driver Q&A:
Are you looking forward to racing in a truck at Darlington?
“I really, really love racing at Darlington and I’m looking forward to racing there for the first time in a truck on Friday night. It was really fun being back in the Truck Series with KBM at the Bristol dirt race. It’s funny when I got in the truck it was the same smells and same feelings inside the truck — that was the cool part. I felt all those feelings I used to feel, and it was really fun. Obviously, it was on dirt and things were a little bit different than normal, but now that I’ve got a race under my belt with everybody on this No. 51 HendrickCars.com team and I was able to get reacclimated to driving a truck, we’re ready to go out and do everything we can to try and win a couple races these next two weeks.”
William Byron Career Highlights:
- With two wins across the first 12 races, Byron now has six career NASCAR Cup Series victories. In 2022, he finished a career-best sixth in the Cup Series championship standings and ranked third in the series with 746 laps led. Across 192 career Cup Series starts he has totaled 10 poles, 2194 laps led, 31 top-five and 68 top-10 finishes.
- Byron captured an Xfinity Series championship and Rookie of the Year Honors for Jr. Motorsports in 2017 after totaling four wins, two poles, 262 laps led, 12 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes.
- The North Carolina native has totaled eight wins, three poles, 821 laps led, 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.4 across 27 career Truck Series starts.
- Won the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title after registering four wins, three poles, five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes across 14 events.
William Byron’s No. 51 Chevrolet Silverado RST:
KBM-77: The No. 51 HendrickCars.com team will unload KBM-77, a brand new Silverado for Friday night’s race at Darlington.
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected two wins, 274 laps led, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.2 across 14 starts at Darlington Raceway. John Hunter Nemechek led a race-high 69 laps en route to victory in last year’s race at the egg-shaped oval. Kasey Kahne picked up the organization’s first win at “The Lady in Black” in 2011.
- KBM holds the Craftsman Truck Series records for most career wins (99) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway last year, Corey Heim became the 18th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- With 40 victories, the No. 51 is the winningest number in KBM’s Truck Series fleet.
