KEEP IT ROLLIN’: After a fourth-place result at Darlington Raceway, Willliam Byron maintained his points lead as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the second playoff race in the Round of 16. Now 45 points above the elimination line for the Round of 12, Byron is looking to make a run for the championship in his career-best season. After 27 races this year, he leads the series in wins (five), stage wins (eight) and laps run in the top five (3,015). The 25-year-old driver’s series-leading 877 laps led are also a single-season career-best. He is second in top-five finishes (10, behind only teammate Kyle Larson), average running position (10.387) and laps run in the top 10 (3,996).
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 (not counting races at Atlanta Motor Speedway since its reconfiguration in 2022), he has two wins (Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2021 and Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2023), two runner-up finishes, seven top-fives, and 13 top-10s on 1.5-mile tracks. In fact, in the three races on 1.5-mile tracks this season, Byron has finished no worse than third and has a 2.00 average finish – best of the field and only the 17th driver in history to hold that low of an average finish on that track length. Since the inception of the Next Gen car in 2022, he has collected 383 points at mile-and-a-half tracks, trailing the leader by only one point.
MIDWEST MOJO: Byron has 11 Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway. In his last eight starts at the 1.5-mile track, Byron has collected one pole award, two top-five finishes and seven top-10s. It is also the track where Byron has the most top-10 finishes in his Cup Series career (seven) ahead of Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway (six each). In the last five races at Kansas, Byron has led 101 laps – fifth-most in the series. In this year’s May race, Byron earned the pole position and finished third.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE KANSAS: Sunday’s race will be Rudy Fugle’s sixth start as a Cup Series crew chief at Kansas. His first five Cup Series races at the Midwest track have resulted in one pole award, one top-five finish, four top-10s and 101 laps led with the No. 24 team. Aside from those five Cup Series starts, the Livonia, New York, native has 12 previous starts at the 1.5-mile oval, with 10 coming in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. In the Truck Series, Fugle’s drivers have started from the top spot in the field on four occasions, collected two wins (2016 and 2018), five top-five finishes, six top-10s and 391 laps led. His 2016 win came with Byron, who captured his first Truck Series win in just their fifth start together.
PIT ROAD PROWESS: After 27 races in the 2023 season, the No. 24 pit crew remains in the top spot with the fastest average four-tire pit stop time of 11.071 seconds. The No. 24 pit crew consists of Spencer Bishop (jackman), Jeff Cordero (front-tire changer), Orane Ossowski (rear-tire changer), Ryan Patton (tire carrier) and Landon Walker (fueler).
RAPTOR® TOUGH: At Kansas, Byron will climb behind the wheel of the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. 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.
HONORING DANETTE KETCHER: The Martin Truex Jr. Foundation and The NASCAR Foundation have partnered together for the fourth time to recognize those who have battled cancer by auctioning off the space above the driver-side door to honor a cancer hero. For this weekend, Byron will have Danette Ketcher, who was nominated by her sister, Debra Halter, riding on board his No. 24 Chevy. As a manager of a small business and her work with rental properties, Ketcher was classified as the epitome of a hero who devoted every ounce of her time and energy to giving selflessly. Her family chose to honor Ketcher on the No. 24 as it is her nephew’s favorite driver and her nomination was suggested by him.
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his outlook for Kansas: "We had a solid race last weekend at Darlington (Raceway) and it was a good showing for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. I think we have the potential to have another solid race this weekend. Kansas (Speedway) has always been a strong track for me and Rudy (Fugle, crew chief). I think our mile-and-a-half program has been really good this season. It’s been a while since we’ve raced on that style of track, though, so it’ll be interesting to see if any of the other teams have caught up with their setups. Hopefully, we can go in there have a solid Saturday and execute on Sunday.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on what he expects for this weekend's race at Kansas: "It’s going to be a tough one. Since they’ve moved this race at Kansas (Speedway) up a couple weeks, you never know what you’re going to get with the weather. Right now, it looks like it’s going to be hot and we don’t get a lot of sets of tires. Last year’s race, and even the race in the spring, it was a tire-heavy race. If there was another caution, most of us didn’t have another set of tires to get. I’m thinking we’re going to have the same thing this weekend which is fun and adds another element. I think there will be a lot of guys sliding around and a lot of guys rim-riding and hitting the wall. It probably won’t be that much different than Darlington (Raceway), just a little bit faster."
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