Thursday, March 2, 2023

William Byron is 12/1 to win 2023 Pennzoil 400 at LVMS

 William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at Las Vegas: "Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) is a track that has a lot of character but it’s fast and really smooth compared to other mile-and-a-half tracks or even Auto Club (Speedway) last weekend. With it being so smooth, you really have to run and utilize all the lanes to be good. You can’t just stick to one lane all race long. The track changes a lot with rubber build up, so you have to keep up with that to not get behind early in the race. We’ve always seemed to run well there and I feel like we’re in a good position to do that again this weekend." 

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the tire strategy for this weekend: "We don’t have a ton of tires this weekend at Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) to just throw at the car every time there’s a caution. We’ll only have eight sets of sticker tires for Sunday. That gives you two to three extra sets to play around with really. You can make a decision at some point when you have six to seven laps on your tires where you could pit and then if there’s a long run after that, it’s going to pay off. If it’s a short run, you won’t re-pass all those who stayed out. I think that’s what you’re going to see a lot of at the stages. You can also look at taking two or four tires. Last year’s race was won on two tires and if you get the right scenario, that’s at play."

 
 

24 WILLIAM BYRON

 

Age: 25 (Nov. 29, 1997)

 

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

 

Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina

 

Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle

 

Standings: 29th

 
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No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

 

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING: William Byron’s results in the first two races in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series don’t quite depict how strong the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has been. In the four stages run this year, he has finished no worse than 14th. In fact, he’s run 182 laps in the top 10 – ninth-best in the field – and 74 laps in the top five – the 10th-most.

1.5-MILE MOMENTUM: Byron is no stranger to success on mile-and-a-half tracks during his Cup Series career. Since the start of 2021, he has one win, one runner-up finish, four top-fives, and 10 top-10s on traditional 1.5-mile tracks. In fact, three of those top-10 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks came in 2022. On this style of track in 2022 – not counting Atlanta Motor Speedway after its reconfiguration – Byron scored 234 points, which was the fourth-most. 

TURNING THE LUCK AROUND: Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marks Byron’s 11th Cup Series start at the venue. Out of those 10 previous starts, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has a track-best finish of fifth (March 2022). In the last four races at the Nevada-based track, he has one top-five finish, two top-10s, with 40 laps led and an average finish of 11.00. Byron has finished within the top 10 at the end of a stage at Las Vegas 12 times – tied for the eighth-most times among active drivers.

VIVA LAS RUDY: Returning to Las Vegas for the fifth time with the Cup Series, crew chief Rudy Fugle is confident heading to a venue that he has had success at before. In his four Cup Series showings, Fugle has one top-five finish and two top-10s, with his best finish with the No. 24 coming in the spring of 2022 (fifth). Aside from those four starts, the Livonia, New York, native has called the shots for 10 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races and one NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas. He has collected one win (March 2019) with Kyle Busch, four top-five finishes, six top-10s, three pole awards and 238 laps led. With Byron in the Truck Series in 2016, the duo qualified 10th and raced to a fifth-place finish at the 1.5-mile venue.

NOT YOUR TYPICAL INTERMEDIATE WIN: While Atlanta is no longer classified as a traditional 1.5-mile track with the use of the superspeedway package and the prevalence of drafting, Byron led 111 laps at the Georgia venue last spring. The victory marked his third win in the Cup Series.

RAPTOR® TOUGH: Continuing the trend so far this season, RAPTOR® Tough and Tintable Protective Coatings will appear on Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Las Vegas. RAPTOR® is a durable protective coating that is designed to tolerate the toughest climatic conditions and can be applied to a wide range of items, including truck beds, lawnmowers, outdoor furniture and more. With 16 pre-mixed colors available, it’s easy to personalize anything you want to protect. RAPTOR® is available at local paint distributors, auto parts stores, and online retailers. For a better look at Byron’s No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, click here.

 
 

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