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| The No. 24 won five times at Bristol with Jeff Gordon. |
“I think the Bristol night race is the signature race of the summertime. It’s a lot of fun just as a fan, and hopefully a lot of fun as a driver. It’s a good track. Bristol’s just very intense on your body – I feel like it’s the most intense race of the year physically. I think you just prepare for that and try to make sure you’re ready for 500 laps there.”
Byron on driving more aggressively at short tracks:
“I think the cars are so fast nowadays, you have to keep the fenders on the car to be competitive. But, you’re more aggressive and you don’t give near as much to other guys as you would at other places. The last race there was intense the whole time because you were trying to guess when the rain was going to get there.”
Byron on his first memory of the Bristol night race:
“I went to the night race in 2009. I think Kyle Busch won the race and it was a milestone start or something big for Mark Martin, which was pretty cool. It was just a neat race; I had never been to the night race and it was a spectacle for sure. It was fun to watch.”
LIBERTY U AND IG STORY TAKEOVER: At Bristol Motor Speedway, the blue and red Liberty University colors will adorn the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 12th time this season. Liberty is the majority primary partner of the No. 24 team with 14 races in 2018, with the final two races as primary scheduled for Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway. Liberty University, founded in 1971, offers more than 550 unique programs of study from the certificate to the doctoral level. William Byron, a junior majoring in business communications, takes online classes at Liberty, which offers more than 250 programs online. After a summer break, he’ll start back with classes in the next few weeks. Byron will take over Liberty University’s Instagram stories (@libertyuniversity) on Saturday to give fans and students a behind-the-scenes look at race day, so be sure to check it out.
BRISTOL STATS: Byron has four national series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway – one earlier this year in the NASCAR Cup Series, two in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – in addition to one regional touring series start in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. In the April Cup race, the 20-year-old qualified 11th and came home 18th after rain interrupted the race on Sunday and it was completed on Monday. His best Xfinity finish is 12th, while he earned top-fives in Truck Series and K&N competition. In the truck series, he led a lap near the end of the event before coming home fourth, and in the K&N race, he came just shy of the win with a runner-up finish. Across all the NASCAR series, Byron’s average finish at “The Last Great Colosseum” is 11.8. At the 0.533-mile oval, 15 drivers have scored top-five finishes as rookie, including Chase Elliott when he drove the No. 24 Chevy in 2016. Five drivers have earned their first win at Bristol, with Kurt Busch the most recent in 2002.
NO. 24 AT BRISTOL: The Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet has a strong history at Bristol Motor Speedway, thanks largely to Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon. Of the organization's 11 wins at Bristol, Gordon was responsible for five behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevy. Gordon’s first win at the 0.533-mile oval came in April 1995, and he remains the third-youngest driver to win a race at Bristol at 23 years, 7 months and 29 days.
BYRON SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY APPEARANCE: As part of the enhanced weekend festivities, Byron will participate in Bristol’s Food City Race Night on Thursday afternoon. His autograph session begins at 5 p.m. local time in the Hospitality Village outside of Turn 4 at the track. Admission is free, but only 150 wristbands will be distributed for the session, starting at 10 a.m. local time on Thursday at the wristbands distribution tent in front of the Hospitality Village.
BYRON AT CHEVY STAGE: On Saturday, Aug. 18, Byron will appear at the Team Chevy Stage at 5 p.m. local time for a question-and-answer session.
CLOSE TO HOME: Chris Burkey, the pit crew coach for the Nos. 9 and 24 teams, hails from Greeneville, Tennessee, which is only 47 miles southwest of Bristol Motor Speedway. Burkey has an extensive background in coaching, getting his start in football. He played football for Wingate University, where he eventually started his coaching career. Burkey coached college football from 1992 to 2005 for Wingate, East Tennessee and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2005, he joined the NFL’s Miami Dolphins as a scout. Looking for a new challenge, Burkey made the transition from football to NASCAR when he was hired as a developmental pit crew coach for Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. He moved up to the head coach position for the former Nos. 5 and 24 teams in 2014.
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