CONCORD, N.C. – With the 2023 DAYTONA 500 right around the corner, William Byron and the No. 24 are looking to build off of the deepest playoff run of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
The 2022 campaign was a big turning point for Byron. His two wins marked his first multi-win season at the Cup Series level. With a career-best finish of sixth in the driver’s championship and his first appearance in the Round of 8, the driver of the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet emerged as a true championship contender. He also led a personal-best 746 laps in the season.
2022: Two wins, Round of 8 appearance propel Byron
The upcoming season marks the third year for Byron with crew chief Rudy Fugle. The two also worked together and had success in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in 2016. The 25-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native thinks the pairing is just scratching the surface on what it can achieve.
"We are getting more comfortable working with these Cup cars," Byron said. "Last year was a challenge for everyone with the Next Gen. I think this year will bring more consistency. I think that’s what we need to work on – just consistently performing better. This past season being sixth in the points and close to the Championship 4 is good, so we just want to improve on that a little bit."
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One of the highlights from the ’22 season was the victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway during the first event held since it’s reconfiguration. The win showed his talent on drafting-style racetracks, a necessity as the '23 calendar will hold six races with this package.
Byron also grabbed a win at Martinsville Speedway in April. The Virginia short track has become one of his best with four top-five finishes and six top-10s in his last seven starts there.
"It just fits our style," Byron said of why he has been successful at the .526-mile track. "We have always grown up at those small style racetracks. Martinsville is right up that alley. It is a rhythm track. You have to use the brake and the throttle together, figure out how to modulate all those things inside the car and manage your tires. There’s a lot of elements at Martinsville."
PHOTOS: See all of Byron's wins at Hendrick Motorsports
Away from NASCAR racing, Byron had success racing a Super Late Model with six wins last year. Expect to see him continue to do some of that in 2023 as this was something Fugle has encouraged his driver to partake in.
With Byron starting his sixth season at the sport’s highest level, check out these story lines for the ’23 campaign as the group looks to build off of a historic season.
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DAYTONA DREAMIN': While Byron has had some success at Daytona International Speedway, the DAYTONA 500 has been a tough race for him and his looking to change that in 2023. In his five starts at "The Great American Race," he has not finished inside the top 20. In other races at the 2.5-mile track, Byron earned a victory in one of 2020 duel qualifying races and also earned his first career Cup Series win during the regular-season finale in the same year. Byron will look to leave Daytona Beach with a positive result so he can build momentum for the rest of the year.
DOUBLING UP: In 2022, Byron won multiple races for the first time in his career. This was highlighted by an extremely fast start to the season where he won two of the first eight races. He will look to build off that in 2023 with how important tallying playoff points and securing a playoff spot as early as possible has become.
MILESTONE ON THE HORIZON: Byron is set to make his 200th Cup Series start in July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. While he has had a fast rise through the ranks, he never imagined this level of success at a young age.
"I don’t know that I dreamed about making this many starts this early in my career," Byron said. "Everything happened really quickly. I got to the Cup Series when I was 20 years old. Now, being 25 and going on my sixth year is really special."
NEW LEADER: In his fifth season, Byron was a consistent presence at the front of the field. His 746 laps led marked a season high and were 321 more than his previous best. With seven top-four starting spots in the season's final 13 races, the No. 24 found itself in the thick of many battles. This presence at the top of the leaderboard proved that Byron and his team were serious championship contenders and 2022 should serve as a stepping stone to consistent contention.
LESSONS LEARNED: "The summer stretch was a challenge for us," Byron said of a run of races that saw him post one top-10 finish in 18 races before his run to the Round of 8. In the playoffs, he had six top-10 finishes in 10 races - including four in a row to open the postseason.
"It was difficult on us. We weren’t clicking but we pulled it altogether towards the end of the summer and really had a great playoff push. It really was a great lesson to kind of learn about the ebbs and flows of the season. In the middle of the season, I would have never thought that we would do as well as we did in the playoffs. Once the playoffs started, we were one of the best teams."
