CAREER SEASON: Heading into the second race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Byron continues to add to his already impressive 2023 season stats. After 33 races, Byron leads the series in wins (six), stage wins (eight), average finishing position (11.33) and top-10 finishes (19). He is tied for the second-most top-five finishes (13) just behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson (14). He has also led a single-season career-best 896 laps – second to Larson (1,031). In addition, Byron ranks second for the season in average running position (10.16), laps run the top five (3,543) and laps run in the top 10 (5,124).
PLAYOFF OUTLOOK: Byron enters Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway second in the standings and nine points above the elimination line to advance to the Championship 4. He has victories at all three of the remaining tracks: Homestead-Miami (2021), Martinsville Speedway (2022) and Phoenix Raceway (2023). The 25-year-old driver is looking to advance to his first Championship 4.
BACK NINE: Over the last nine races of the season, Byron leads the series in points (364), top-10 finishes (eight) and average finish (5.44). In that stretch, he is also tied for the most wins (two), runner-up finishes (two) and top-fives (five).
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 on Atlanta Motor Speedway after its reprofiling in 2022), he has three wins, two runner-up finishes, eight top-fives and 15 top-10s in 22 races on 1.5-mile tracks. In fact, in the six races on that track length this season, Byron leads the series in wins (two, one each at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the spring and Texas Motor Speedway), average finish (4.83) and points (254).
HEADING TO HOMESTEAD: With five previous Cup Series starts under his belt at Homestead-Miami, Byron’s first two Cup Series starts didn’t go as he hoped but he has since turned his luck around. In his last three starts at the 1.5-mile track, Byron has collected one win (2021), two top-10 finishes and a pole position. The sixth-year Cup Series driver has two other national series starts at Homestead-Miami on his résumé – one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. In 2017, Byron started sixth and went on to finish third, locking up the Xfinity Series championship in the process. In 2016, Byron started on the pole for the Truck Series race and led 31 laps en route to the win at the 1.5-mile speedway with Rudy Fugle on the pit box.
RUDY RUNS MIAMI: Crew chief Fugle will be making his third Cup Series start this Sunday at the South Florida track. In his first showing, Fugle went on to capture his first Cup Series win with Byron and the No. 24 after leading 102 laps. He followed that up by capturing the pole award in 2022, leading 32 laps, all before going on to score a 12th-place result. The Livonia, New York, native also has nine other national series starts with seven of those coming in the Truck Series. He has visited victory lane two times at this track in the truck ranks, once in 2013 and again in 2016 with Byron. In fact, Fugle’s Truck Series drivers have never finished outside the top eight.
PIT ROAD PROWESS: Through 33 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 10.979 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).
LIBERTY U IS BACK: For the final time in the 2023 season, Byron will sport his Liberty University paint scheme. Featuring a white base with navy flames and red accents, the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will be sure to stand out on track. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty University is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in strategic communication, Byron is now in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. Check out every angle of the paint scheme here.
WELCOME PODS: On Thursday, Hendrick Motorsports announced that PODS Enterprises LLC, the industry leader in portable moving and storage solutions, has joined Byron and the No. 24 team as the primary sponsor for next week’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville on Oct. 29. PODS has assisted with more than six million moves with locations serving 46 states and was recently recognized on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best Customer Service 2024 in the "Moving Services" category. For a closer look at Byron’s No. 24 PODS Chevy, click here.
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on running the wall at Homestead-Miami: "I mean I’ve done it before, but I don’t think in the (NASCAR) Cup (Series) car. It’s not maybe as comfortable for me, but I do feel like I’m capable of running well at Homestead (Miami Speedway). I’ve won a Cup race there (in 2021) and last year we qualified on the pole. It’s a place that is within our wheelhouse. It’s just a matter of how good we can be there. I think we can realistically have a chance to compete and fight for a win there. I don’t know yet, but I feel like we can be pretty solid at Homestead, for sure."
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his thoughts about Homestead-Miami: "Homestead (Miami Speedway) is one of my favorite tracks we go to and always has been. I’ve been able to find success there, but I think it’s mainly because I enjoy how the track races. We’ve spent a lot of time preparing for this race, even before last weekend at Las Vegas (Motor Speedway). We were a bit off from where we hoped at track, so we spent this week really honing in our setup. Hopefully, we can have a solid day and cushion our points gap before the final race of the round."
No comments:
Post a Comment