CONCORD, N.C. – William Byron and the No. 24 team have become accustomed to starting fast in a NASCAR Cup Series season.
Byron's win on Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) makes him the first driver this year to reach two victories. He accomplished that feat after the sixth race of 2024. Byron also did this in the previous two seasons — after four races in 2023 and eight races in 2022.
"It reaffirms the process that I'm doing during the week is correct," Byron said of how the early wins help his confidence level and preparation. "If I do those things that I know are right and the people around me are there to help me do those things and keep the ship kind of going, I know that that stuff works.
"I have a great team. When I'm able to plug into what we're doing as a whole, Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and I are able to have conversations and I get to a place where I feel confident. All that stuff clicks.
"The sport is really hard. It's very easy to get caught up in all the moving parts and all the different challenges. I know that if I do what is normal for me, it's good."
PHOTOS: See the scenes from victory lane for Byron, No. 24 team
This past weekend at COTA, everything did click for the 26-year-old driver. Byron led nearly two-thirds of the laps (42 of the 68 laps run) en route to his first-ever victory from the pole position.
"What a weekend they put together," said team vice chairman Jeff Gordon after the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet's 105th Cup Series win. "The race car that Rudy and the team brought. The way that William drove it. Just watching him qualify, how smooth he was. The same thing throughout the race. He put the car in all the right places. I never saw him make a mistake.
"A lot of credit to William in doing that great job. Takes the whole team, the pit crew, everybody. They're truly on quite a run here to start this season off. Can't wait to see where they take it next."
PHOTOS: Check out all 304 Cup wins in the history of Hendrick Motorsports
Gordon was the last driver to be the first to reach multiple wins in three consecutive seasons in 1997, 1998 and 1999 in the No. 24 Chevrolet.
Early wins are a trademark of Byron's four seasons with crew chief Rudy Fugle. Seven of their 11 wins together have come in the first eight races of a season. Banking playoff points early in the season is a significant boost and set the team up to fill its bucket ahead of the 10-race postseason, where every slight advantage in the standings helps. During the elimination-style playoffs, the first repeat winner has reached the Championship 4 in nine of 10 seasons.
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"Anytime you can collect playoff points early in the year, confidence, all those things, you just got to do it," Fugle said.
"This is the process. We work really hard during the offseason and prepare for this first chunk of races.
"Anytime you can get momentum going and get the team fired up, get everybody fired up. There are going to be plenty of ups and downs. Anytime you can get them, you got to grab 'em."
An abundance of playoff points helped Byron advance to last year's Championship 4 as the lone driver to advance through the Round of 8 on points.
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The next chance for playoff points comes at the short tracks of Richmond Raceway (March 31) and Martinsville Speedway (April 7). Fugle, Byron and the team won at Martinsville in 2022 but have a combined five top-five finishes and eight top-10s in 23 starts.
"The next two are circled big-time," Fugle said of the upcoming races in Virginia. "There are different types of wins. We're going to shoot for the stars and get a win out of the next two weeks. We have not been good at Richmond. We have not been good at Martinsville. We need to be — right away. That's all we're focused on right now."
