William Byron Tallies Dominant Martinsville Win

William Byron is beside himself after winning the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images)

William Byron had an extra step to his toes for Saturday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

After all, the 24-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native was coming off a Thursday night win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the paperclip. More so, he had a fast No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevy Camaro.

Starting from the fifth position, Byron drove masterfully, earning runner up results in the race’s opening two stages. On lap 186, Byron, who won the race off pit road following the end of stage 2, asserted himself as the dominant driver of the race.

Despite leading 212 laps on three different occasions, Byron’s Saturday night dominance was not as easy as it looked.

“The pace was certainly high,” Byron said. “I don’t think I ever — I couldn’t ever relax. I saved tire by just not sliding the tires, but I never could back up and save tire and things like that. But I think it’s just really cold temps. Anytime it’s below 40 degrees I’d say, the tires don’t even lay rubber. That was definitely a factor all night.”

Although the chilly conditions presented challenges to the drivers on the track, Byron kept cool, poised and patient at the 0.526-mile short track. In a night race where passing was quite difficult, Byron retained the lead from lap 321 onward.

Not even an Overtime restart derailed Byron from earning his second win of the Cup season. Byron, the first repeat winner after eight races, earned his second grandfather clock of the race weekend.

In terms of what he’ll do with his unique prizes, he plans to make it a family affair.

Byron adds to the No. 24 team’s legacy at Martinsville. (Photo: Meg Oliphant | Getty Images)

“Yeah, (I’ll) probably give one of them to my parents, and yeah, probably just keep the Cup one in the apartment because that one is pretty special,” he observed. “Anytime you win a Cup race — these things are hard. I know it might have looked like we had a dominant race, but these Cup wins are really hard, so you cherish them, and definitely going to try to keep all the trophies together.”

The 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion observed one of his key mentors with getting around the unique Virginia short track, recalling a pivotal moment during his rookie season in 2018.

“When I was a rookie, Jeff (Gordon) was like, ‘Hey, let’s ride up to Martinsville together,'” Byron recalled. “It wasn’t even a question. It was, ‘Hey, let’s ride up to Martinsville together, I want to show you some things.’ He walked me through this place. Just the things he told me, I don’t know if it really clicked until I ran second that year to Truex, but they started to click, and it was like, all right, that’s the way you get around Martinsville.”

Gordon’s advice, along with the storied history of the No. 24 car at Martinsville, seemed to sink in for the mild mannered driver.

“So just having his history in the 24 car definitely puts an emphasis on being good here because I feel like it’s a place that is filled with history,” Byron offered. “And if you can win here in the 24 car it’s going to be something you always cherish.

“Definitely is special, and he’s got, what, 93 wins and however many clocks. We’ve got a lot of clocks to chase, but it’s cool to get that advice from him. Those little things that I picked up from him in my rookie year that I didn’t really use for a few years, and then as soon as I got towards the front I’m like, all right, that makes sense.”

If the No. 24 team seems like a team on a mission with their relentless approach, it can be attributed to their efforts last year as consistent frontrunners who struggled in the Playoffs.

Byron and Fugle are having a sweet start to 2022. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton |Getty Images)

“It left me with a bitter taste,” he quipped. “And I felt like throughout this off-season I was pretty bitter about that stuff, but it was motivation because I felt like we could get into this year — granted, it’s a new car, we had to go through that adaptation process with the new car, but I feel like we’re starting to learn now what we need.

“It’s good to see, and now I feel like all of that desire and passion that we had in the off-season to prove to ourselves that we could win multiple races is there.”

Beyond the bitter finish to an otherwise respectable 2021 season, Byron considered his support system. With his mother, Dana, in great spirits about a year after her brain cancer diagnosis, and father, Bill, on-site and among the first to enjoy the Cup racer’s win, it was quite the moment for the Byron family.

“We’ll definitely enjoy this win, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to celebrate,” Byron shared. “Yeah, I’m pretty close to them. I’ve got a great supporting cast with Max and my girlfriend, Erin, and my sister, Kathryn.

“I have a great group of people around me that I feel like when things were tough in racing and in life, it’s easy to go to them and talk to them.

Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers

Elliott-Byron-Custer-Bell-Almirola/Harvick-Blaney-Logano-Cindric-Kurt Busch

Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers

Elliott-Byron-Logano-Blaney-Custer/Austin Dillon-Almirola-Cindric-Bell-Harvick

Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Top-10 Finishers

Byron-Logano-Austin Dillon-Blaney-Chastain/Kurt Busch-Kyle Busch-Almirola-Briscoe-Elliott