William Byron arrived in the NASCAR Cup Series six years ago, but 2023 is shaping up to be the year he truly arrived on the scene.
A weather-shortened victory Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway gave Byron his series-leading fourth of the year. That is double what he and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team won last season, which was the first season Byron won multiple races in his career.
The victory also leapfrogged Byron atop the Cup Series championship point standings for the first time this year, keeping him in position for the regular season championship. He is on track to earn single-season high marks in top-five and top-10 finishes, plus laps led.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to our folks at Hendrick and certainly with William and Rudy [Fugle] and what they’re doing as a team to keep the momentum going because they’re having an incredible season and I just hope they can keep that going into the playoffs,” Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, said.
“I just see a spark in them this year, just the way they’re clicking and communicating, and the chemistry between William, Rudy, and the whole team has been fun to watch. (It’s) exciting to see this kind of blossoming career of young talent in a driver and what they might be able to do long into the future.”
Gordon knows the importance of team dynamics as well as anyone. It took Byron until deep into his third year before he won his first Cup Series race with former crew chief Chad Knaus. But things changed when Byron was reunited with Fugle in 2021, the two having previously worked together – and nearly won the championship – in the Craftsman Truck Series.
In three years together at the Cup Series level, Byron and Fugle have won seven races. But it wasn’t until recently that Gordon saw the change.
“I was over at Hendrick Motorsports the day after Christmas, not expecting to see anybody there because I don’t remember why I was there, but he was in his office working,” Gordon recalled of Fugle. “I was like, ‘Man if you’re working, you’re going to have a good year.’ We kind of laughed and joked about it.
“But I think his commitment, dedication is one. William also shows the same kind of commitment and dedication. That just really spills out throughout the whole team. When somebody sees others putting in extra effort, then they don’t want to be the weak link, and that could be the driver, the crew chief, a pit crew member, an engineer, whatever it may be, and I think that’s what’s builds a strong unit is when people are just putting in as much effort as possible.”
Byron has come out of his shell over the years, maturing on and off the racetrack. But whereas he’s still young and energetic, finding his voice in the sport and within the team, Fugle is a no-nonsense, experienced leader.
“It’s just facts, and it’s what can we do to go faster,” Byron said of his crew chief. “I don’t have to worry about him -–he just shoots me straight. He just talks about what we need to do better, and I feel like that works really well for me because I’m similar.
“I think we’re similar in some ways on a professional side, and then on a personal side, we keep up with each other. We’re not hanging out getting beers. But we certainly have grown closer on that side, but in a professional sense, we just work really well.”
Bryon is the leader of the series and in the Hendrick Motorsports clubhouse. He has finally developed into a weekly contender, and with the car underneath him, he’s making the moves to capitalize as long has been expected of him.
“I think we’ve always known William had the talent,” Gordon said. “It was just about getting the experience as a young driver racing at this level, getting him with somebody that believes in him and is providing the car and now the pit crew is crushing it.
“They just seem like a complete team. I don’t want to jinx it because it’s a long season, and it’s all about you’ve got to keep that momentum going all the way through the playoffs. This is great and I love what they’re doing and I really believe in them to do it all the way through the end of the season, but I don’t want to rave on them too much because I want them to keep digging. But I know they will. I know they will. They’ll be head down, digging.”