COTA CATCHUP: Pulling double duty this past weekend at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), William Byron was competitive at every level. Lining up ninth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the driver of the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevy battled up front all race long before ultimately finishing second. Byron followed it up by capturing his first pole award of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. He once again battled up front all race long and endured three overtime attempts, which left him with a fifth-place finish.
24 IN ’23: Byron and the No. 24 team are off to a hot start in the 2023 Cup Series season. So far this year, Byron has led the second-most laps (268) behind only his teammate Kyle Larson (270). After six races, he leads the series in wins (two), stage wins (four), and laps run in the top five (774). On top of that, the 25-year-old is tied for the most top-five finishes (three) and most top-10s in a stage (eight) and is second for laps run in the top 10 (935).
STAGE WINNER: After winning stage one in the Cup Series race at COTA, Byron now has four stage wins this year. This matches his highest amount of stage wins in a season – winning four stages in 2021 and 2022. His four stage wins are also tied for the most by a driver through six races in a year. Of note, the other two drivers that did this went on to win the championship in those years (2017 and 2019).
SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS: With this Sunday marking the first short-track race of the 2023 season, Byron is no stranger to success at this type of track. In the 2022 season, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native collected 203 points – second-most in the series. He had the best average finish (5.00) and was tied with three drivers (including teammate Larson) for the most top-five finishes (three) on short tracks last season. In his last seven short-track races, Byron has one win, five top-five finishes, six top-10s, 334 laps led and an average finish of 4.71. Of those stats, his top-five finishes, top-10s and average finish rank the best of all drivers in that span.
READY FOR RICHMOND: This Sunday’s race at Richmond Raceway will mark Byron’s 10th Cup Series start at the .75-mile track. He currently has a track-best finish of third that came in April 2022 after starting on the front row and leading 122 laps – his third-most laps led in a single race. In the last four races at the Virginia-based track, Byron has one top-five finish, two top-10s and 122 laps led with an average finish of 10.00.
FAST STOPS: In the first six races of 2023, the No. 24 pit crew has an average four-tire pit stop time of 11.459 seconds – the second-best average in the field. The team's 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). The No. 24 pit crew also had the best four-tire pit stop in the 2023 DAYTONA 500 with a time of 11.278 seconds.
GOT 99 PROBLEMS, BUT WINNING AIN’T ONE: With his two victories to start the year, Byron continues to make his mark on the legacy of the No. 24 at the Cup Series level. Those two wins bring the No. 24 one victory away from 100. Currently fifth with 99 wins, the No. 24 is only behind the No. 3 with 101, the No. 2 with 102 wins, the No. 43 with 200 wins and the No. 11 with 228 wins on the all-time list.
RAPTOR® TOUGH: The last time RAPTOR® Tough and Tintable Protective Coatings was on Byron’s No. 24 he went to victory lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He hopes to do that again when he powers the RaptorTough.com Chevy at Richmond. 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.
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his fast start in 2023 lending itself to the upcoming short-track races: “With the variety of tracks we’ve raced at so far this year, it really shows the strength of this team overall. Our short-track program was strong last year. Those tracks are a real strength of mine in general, which makes me really excited for this weekend. We should have a really good shot at being one of the cars to beat again this weekend and that’s how we want it to be. We want to keep that momentum up and keeping playing offense."
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