William Byron 'thankful' for Rick Hendrick after earning 300th win for Hendrick Motorsports
Not only did William Byron earn his 10th career win and punch his ticket to the Round of 8, he earned Hendrick Motorsports their 300th victory. To say that is an impressive feat would be an understatement. It speaks to the dedication that HMS has put into the Cup Series and into NASCAR as a whole.
This wasn’t the most dominant win for William Byron. However, Hendrick Motorsports was dominant on the day. All four cars in the top 15, Kyle Larson led for almost 100 laps on the day, but it was Byron who took the win.
When Larson wrecked out of the race, it looked like HMS would have to wait on win 300. Then the pit crew of Byron and his excellent restart skills changed everything. He saw a chance and took it when Chase Briscoe got tight and sent Bubba Wallace up the track.
It worked, too. After the race, Byron was thankful for all that Rick Hendrick has done for him. He didn’t always look like a championship driver.
“Then yeah, win 300 and everything that Mr. H has meant to me in my career so far,” Byron said postrace. “I don’t know if it’s one quote, but just how he values people and just how people make things go, and I think that I’ve always valued that because he’s taught us and instilled that in us.”
He went on to say, “I’m super thankful to him [Rick Hendrick], and to give him 300 is really cool.”
William Byron continues breakout season
The iRacing kid who grew up a Jimmie Johnson fan and now drives the 24 that belonged to Jeff Gordon – he’s the one who gave HMS win 300. Back in 2019, a lot of people saw the potential in Byron. Now, it seems that he is fulfilling that potential.
Last season Chase Elliott was the winningest driver in the Cup Series with 5 checkered flags. His teammate has now surpassed that with six races to go. It gets even scarier for the competition when you realize that Byron has won at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Martinsville, and Phoenix.
In fact, he won Las Vegas and Phoenix back-to-back earlier this season. JoeyLogano won at Vegas in 2022 on his way to the Championship 4 and it was likely the reason why he went on to win. He had three weeks to prepare for one race.
Are we going to see William Byron earn another win? Two more wins? The playoffs are the most difficult in the second round. Now, he’s basically skipped Talladega and the Roval. Is there anything stopping the 24 from claiming that Bill France Cup?