William Byron hopes to make the No. 24 succeed in 2024 starting with this year’s DAYTONA 500. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — At age 26, William Byron is realizing his incredible talents in one of NASCAR’s top rides since late 1992.
Byron, the third racer to wheel the famed No. 24 mount fielded by Hendrick Motorsports, had a career season in 2023. With six wins and a third place finish in the championship standings, the Charlotte, North Carolina native, has been labeled as one of the prime NASCAR Cup Series championship contenders this year.
If that expectation is not enough weight for most racers to consider, soak in the fact that the Hendrick organization is celebrating its 40th anniversary season. Then again, for Byron, the mild mannered racer does not get flummoxed by such thoughts once he’s in his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Before the kickoff to this year’s DAYTONA Speedweeks, the seventh-year racer understood the gravity of his organization’s ruby red anniversary.
“It’s huge. That’s such a big deal for the entire organization,” Byron said. “Hopefully, we can win some signature races to have a chance to compete for the championship.”
Last year, Byron showcased what he and crew chief Rudy Fugle could do against the very best in the premier series. No matter if it was the serpentine road course of Watkins Glen or the tenacious Atlanta Motor Speedway, the sim to reality racer proved himself as a consistent, elite competitor.
Now, Byron, with 10 wins, 41 top fives and 83 top 10s in his Cup career spanning 216 starts is a young but seasoned veteran. Like most successful athletes, he recognizes an area of opportunity to work on to elevate his craft.
William Byron would love to win his second Daytona race and his first DAYTONA 500 this year. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)
“I don’t know – just try to get a little better at short tracks,” he said. “That has been the goal for us for about a year. We started to struggle at the shorter tracks in 2022, and I feel like going into this year, that has been the big emphasis – to try and get better at Martinsville in particular, but a lot of those places.”
Namely, during last October’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Byron mustered a 13th place finish in grueling, unusually summerlike conditions at the Ridgeway, Virginia short track. As seen in the NASCAR: Full Speed docuseries on Netflix, the Hendrick racer’s incredible athletic regime enabled him to dig deep even with the mental and physical demands from that afternoon.
Likewise, Byron knows it is about having an optimistic perspective even when a certain race day may be a struggle.
“I look at it that every time the guys bring a car to the track, it has a chance to win,” he explained. “That is the confidence I have in my team, and I never look at weekends and say – ‘man, this car sucks’, or ‘this car doesn’t have a chance to win’.
“It’s just fine-tuning and sometimes you win races with a third-place car and sometimes you win by being the best car all weekend. I think we had maybe two races last year where we had the best car all weekend and that was Vegas and Watkins Glen. So, yeah, it just depends, and they all come in differently.”
Fans got a glimpse into Byron’s life, at and away from the track, from the docuseries, including the weekends at Texas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. Given some of the skepticism from Formula 1’s Drive to Survive docuseries chronicling the 2018 through 2022 seasons, the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion was pleasantly receptive to the stock car equivalent released on Jan. 29.
“It was really cool, and I liked it a lot,” he said. “I thought they did a good job editing it and really making everyone look good. It was good. I was skeptical going in of what it was going to look like, but it turned out better than I thought.”
Before Byron can consider such thoughts on more docuseries filming and the championship, his sights are on racing his way from the rear of the field to win his first ever DAYTONA 500. Based on Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel races for the Hendrick organization, there are plentiful reasons for Byron and his comrades to be optimistic about their chances.
Despite the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 body remaining the same, William Byron is confident about his chances in 2024. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
Even with the redesigned Ford Mustang Dark Horse and Toyota Camry XSE, Byron has faith in the tried and true Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 body which received a facelift last year. Familiarity over the unknown may be an advantage, at least in Byron’s hopeful eyes.
“Yeah, I mean our car was good last year, so sometimes you don’t want to mess with something that is already proven and competitive,” Byron observed. “So, hopefully, our car is really good this year.”
Editor’s Notes
Cornnell Chu contributed to this article directly onsite from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
