AVONDALE, Ariz. – William Byron is the NASCAR Cup Series rookie of the year.
In the penultimate race of the year, the driver of the No. 24 Hertz Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 locked up the title with a ninth-place finish – his fourth top-10 of the year.
“Really just had a good car this weekend, so that was a lot of fun and good for us to have a weekend like that,” Byron said. “Something to build toward for Homestead and next year’s going to be a different deal for us. Proud to have that and thankful for Hertz and all their support, Hendrick Motorsports and all the people back at the shop.”
He has now won rookie of the year honors in four consecutive seasons after earning the award in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2017, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2016 and the K&N Pro Series East in 2015.
He joins Erik Jones as just the second driver to win rookie of the year in the Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series in back-to-back-to-back seasons.
The rookie said he’s proud to have clinched the award with a top-10 run.
“Overall, the car was the best we have been in a long time, and it was fun to have that,” he said.
Byron is the fourth Hendrick Motorsports driver to earn the title in the Cup Series, joining Jeff Gordon (1993), Kyle Busch (2005) and Chase Elliott (2016).
This season, Byron has earned four top-10 finishes, including his two best results of the campaign back-to-back at Pocono (sixth) and Watkins Glen (eighth) in July and August. He has led a total of 61 laps in the process.
The driver said what has stood out to him about his rookie campaign is how he has been able to grow, learn and improve throughout the season.
“I think probably some of the decent runs that we've had, I look at the road courses went pretty well for us, and then some of the short track races went well,” he said. “Probably look at that stuff and be proud of that.”
And there’s still one race remaining to cap off an award-winning rookie campaign.
“I’m really looking forward to next year and next weekend and just proud to be a part of the Cup Series,” Byron said.