Denny Hamlin says William Byron was 'due' for a breakout year

William Byron sits alone atop the NASCAR Cup Series points standings following his fourth victory of the season in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Byron led 20 laps, including the final one before rain brought an end to Sunday’s racing. Speaking on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast Monday, Denny Hamlin said he expected big things from Byron this season given the progression he showed over his first five seasons with Hendrick Motorsports.

“We saw this coming,” Hamlin said. “… Go back to episode one, I said the guy’s gonna make the final four. I actually had him as one of the best restrictor plate racers that was very underrated. Breakout year — he was due for it. He’s just had a steady progression of getting better. Mix that with… you know he came on and was a guest on our show. We know you come to Dirty Mo [Media and] you win races.”

William Byron picks up NASCAR Cup Series-leading 4th win of 2023 season

After taking the lead, Byron had to fight off the No. 99 of Daniel Suárez. He delivered some light blocks and kept his No. 24 Chevy in the lead. A caution flag brought on by Bubba Wallace and Ryan Preece would bring the cars to a slow pace. Finally, the red flag was thrown as rain came down, forcing NASCAR to declare Byron the winner.

Byron, who won two races and finished sixth in the points standings in 2022, leads all Cup Series drivers in wins this season. In addition, he’s led a Cup Series-high 742 laps. Byron will take the win at Atlanta, even if he admits he doesn’t “completely understand this one.”

“Honestly I don’t completely understand this one. It’s a really good feeling,” Byron said after the race, via NBC Sports. “I’ve never had a rain victory like this. … It’s cool. We went through so much throughout the night, spinning through the infield, destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point you just don’t have the grip, so I was real edgy back in traffic.

“[Crew chief Rudy Fugle] made a good call to pit there and then stay out, and once we got towards the front it was okay. We could honestly make the right decisions, block okay, and got the lead from AJ [Allmendinger] and just was able to manage the run. Just a crazy night.”