Competing in his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series and coming off a dramatic victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, William Byron is bound to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make his 200th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Byron made his inaugural presence in the Cup circuit at the start of the 2018 season, where he was assigned to pilot the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports led by former championship-winning crew chief Darian Grubb. By then, he was coming off a championship-winning season in the Xfinity Series while driving for JR Motorsports.
Rolling off the grid in 33rd place for his Cup debut during the 60th running of the Daytona 500, Byron finished 23rd after being involved in two separate incidents. After finishing no higher than 12th during the first six scheduled events, he achieved his first top-10 career result in NASCAR’s premier series after finishing eighth at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Byron’s additional spotlights during his rookie Cup campaign included a season-best sixth-place result at Pocono Raceway in July followed by an eighth-place result at Watkins Glen International in August. With an average-finishing result of 20.7 throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, however, Byron did not make the 2018 Cup Playoffs. He managed to earn a ninth-place result during the penultimate event of the season at Phoenix Raceway in November before finishing in 23rd place in the final standings and wrapping up the 2018 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title over Bubba Wallace. By then, Byron joined Erik Jones as the only competitors to achieve rookie titles across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.
At the start of his sophomore season, Byron was paired with seven-time championship-winning crew chief Chad Knaus, who was a former crew member of the No. 24 team and had completed a 17-year run with seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Byron’s first run with Knaus atop the pit box started off on a strong note as the North Carolinian won his first Cup career pole for the 61st running of the Daytona 500 as he also recorded the 700th Cup pole for Chevrolet. Despite leading 44 laps, however, Byron finished 21st after being involved in a late multi-car wreck during the main event. After finishing no higher than 15th during the first six scheduled events, Byron recorded his first top-10 result of the season at Texas Motor Speedway in April after finishing sixth. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Byron achieved four poles, three top-five results and nine top-10 results, which were enough for him to qualify for the 2019 Cup Playoffs.
During the 2019 Playoff’s Round of 16, Byron finished seventh, 24th and sixth, respectively, which were enough for him and the No. 24 team to transfer into the Round of 12. During the Round of 12, however, he finished 13th, 33rd and fifth, respectively, and failed to advance to the Round of 8. Despite recording a strong runner-up result behind Martin Truex Jr. at Martinsville Speedway in October, Byron concluded his sophomore Cup season in 11th place in the final standings. Overall, he achieved his first five top-five runs, his first five pole positions, tripled his top-10 results from four to 13 and improved on his average-finishing result compared to his rookie season from 22.1 to 14.9.
Byron commenced the 2020 Cup Series season on another strong note by winning the second of two Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races at Daytona in February and securing the fourth-place starting spot for the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. Despite starting the 500 strong, his bid for the win came to an end past the one-quarter mark of the race when contact from pole-sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sent the No. 24 Chevrolet spinning and head-on into the backstretch inside wall as he settled in last place of the 40-car field. During the first 18 Cup races of the season, Byron achieved five top-10 results and was fighting to remain inside the top-16 cutline to make the 2020 Cup Playoffs. After finishing in the top 14 in all but one of the following seven races, Byron held sole possession of the final transfer spot to the Playoffs by a mere margin over his childhood hero and teammate Jimmie Johnson.
Then during the 2020 regular-season finale at Daytona in August, Byron’s breakthrough moment in NASCAR’s premier series arrived after he fended off the field in during a two-lap shootout to claim his first Cup career win in his 98th series start and clinch a spot to the Playoffs. By then, he became the second competitor to win driving the No. 24 car alongside Jeff Gordon and the 195th different competitor to win a Cup race overall. Despite the team’s late regular-season surge, their hopes for the championship came to an end during the Round of 16 due to respective finishes of fifth, 21st and 38th, including an on-track incident at Bristol Motor Speedway in September that damaged Byron’s car and knocked him out of the race. With four top-10 results during the final eight scheduled events, Byron concluded his junior season in 14th place in the final standings. By then, he achieved one additional top-10 result, but one less top-five result from his sophomore season. He had also surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.
The 2021 season featured another crew chief for Byron as veteran Ryan “Rudy” Fugle was promoted to lead the No. 24 team. The move marked a reunion between Byron and Fugle, both of whom worked together and won seven races during the 2016 Truck Series season at Kyle Busch Motorsports. Following two consecutive finishes outside the top 25 during the first two scheduled events, Byron responded back with a resounding victory at Homestead in February. The Homestead victory would serve as the first of an 11-race stretch where he finished in the top 10, which concluded after finishing fourth at Dover Motor Speedway in May before finishing 11th at Circuit of the Americas. With a total of nine top-five results and 16 top-10 results during the 26-race regular-season stretch, Byron clinched his spot to the Playoffs for a third consecutive season. Despite finishing 34th, 19th and third, respectively, during the Round of 16, he earned a transfer spot to the Round of 12 by two points. His title hopes, however, came to an end following the Round of 12 after finishing 18th, 36th and 11th, respectively. With three top-six results during the final four-scheduled events, including a runner-up result at Texas Motor Speedway in October, Byron concluded the season in 10th place in the final standings. By then, he capped off the season with a career-high 12 top-five results, 20 top-10 results and a career-best average-finishing result of 13.6.
Like the previous season, the 2022 season started off on a rough note for Byron, who finished outside the top 30 during the first two scheduled events. Nonetheless, he rallied during the following weekend at Las Vegas by finishing fifth. Another two races later, he claimed his third Cup career victory in the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway in March after leading a race-high 111 of 325 laps. After finishing 12th and third at Circuit of the Americas and Richmond Raceway, respectively, he then recorded his second victory of the season at Martinsville Speedway in April after leading a race-high 122 of 400 laps and beating Joey Logano in a two-lap shootout. The victory made Byron the first two-time Cup winner of the 2022 season as it also marked his first time achieving multiple Cup victories in a season. Despite recording a single top-10 result (ninth at Sonoma Raceway) during the remaining 18 regular-season events of the season, the pair of victories achieved earlier in the season enabled Byron and the No. 24 team to make the Playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. Compared to his previous three seasons, Byron transferred from the Round of 16 all the way to the Round of 8 after finishing no lower than 16th throughout the first two rounds. Despite finishing no lower than 13th during the Round of 8, however, he was unable to transfer to the Championship Round. With a sixth-place result during the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Byron settled in a career-high sixth place in the final standings.
Currently, the 2023 Cup season is serving as a career year for Byron, who has notched a career-high four victories through the first 19-scheduled events, including this past weekend at Atlanta, where he rallied from an early pit road penalty and a spin that pinned him a lap behind to implement a late pit strategic call to move upfront and claim the lead prior to the event being called official 75 laps of its scheduled distance due to inclement weather. His other victories this season include back-to-back wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and at Phoenix Raceway in March before notching a victory at Darlington in May, where he recorded the 100th career victory for the No. 24. With two poles, eight top-five results, 11 top-10 results, 741 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.4 to coincide with his four victories, Byron currently leads the 2023 Cup regular-season standings by 21 points over Martin Truex Jr.
Through 199 previous Cup starts, Byron has achieved eight victories, 10 poles, 34 top-five results, 73 top-10 results, 2,346 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.0.
Byron is scheduled to make his 200th Cup Series career start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 16, with the event’s coverage to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
