William Byron has taken the already iconic No. 24 Chevrolet and has quickly authored his own NASCAR Cup Series legacy behind its wheel.
At just 27 years old, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has emerged as one of the sport’s most competitive, having already earned 14 Cup Series wins and now seven consecutive playoff appearances.
“I feel like [team owner Rick Hendrick] just kind of gives us all the resources we need to go out there and perform,” said Byron, who just signed a four-year contract extension. “Just very thankful to have him as my boss for years and really continue to grow with the team. I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress the last really the last few years, so it’s been a lot of fun.”
Byron is headed back to the playoffs after winning the season-opening Daytona 500 for the second straight year, joining only Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin and Denny Hamlin to go back-to-back in the sport’s most prestigious race. And the Charlotte native is the only driver other than NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon to win for Hendrick in the legendary No. 24.
“I feel like that momentum and making the Championship 4 [in 2024] kind of was setting us up for a great year this year,” Byron said. “I think that was a lot of the reason for some of our early success we’ve had. But yeah, I mean, the win at Daytona definitely helped that, kind of got everything off the ground. And making the playoffs is always a relief.”
He also has a good relationship with Rajah Caruth, a D.C. native and Byron’s teammate driving for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, who just won the second race of his career.
“We grew up doing some iRacing together, so I know him from from that growing up, and then seeing him kind of come on the scene and really dive into everything,” Byron said of Caruth. “He works really hard. So, I admire that. I think that’s what it takes to be successful.”
Byron was in the District recently to tour the city and take in some iconic D.C. experiences — think Ben’s Chili Bowl — ahead of this summer’s races in nearby Dover and Richmond and talked with District of Sports about his contract extension and early season run of success that has him on top of the Cup Series standings.
Byron and the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series is in Michigan this weekend for the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Prime Video. The series comes to the capital region with the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 coming up at Dover Motor Speedway July 20 and the CookOut 400 at Richmond Raceway on August 16.
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