[autotag]William Byron[/autotag] is not expected to be Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon. Byron isn’t even supposed to be the best driver at Hendrick Motorsports alongside NASCAR Cup Series champions Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. However, the driver of the No. 24 car solidified his status as a NASCAR star on Monday evening by winning the 2024 Daytona 500.
Byron took the white flag as the leader, and caution flew soon after the No. 24 car crossed the line. Without a quick trigger on the button, Byron’s teammate Alex Bowman would’ve passed him with a significant push from Christopher Bell. Instead, Byron won by 0.006 seconds in the Great American Race for the first time.
The 26-year-old driver is fresh off a breakout 2023 NASCAR season, where he won six races. Now, Byron has come into the new year as a Daytona 500 champion. The only current Daytona 500 winner at Hendrick Motorsports. It shows how far Byron has come since entering the NASCAR Cup Series. The first couple of seasons were rough as a young driver.
William Byron *barely* beat Alex Bowman to win the 2024 Daytona 500.
It’s Byron’s first Daytona 500 victory as the No. 24 car returns to victory lane in the Great American Race.
pic.twitter.com/8AduUkx5BC— Austin Konenski (@AustinKonenski) February 20, 2024
Byron went through several crew chiefs, such as Chad Knaus and Darian Grubb, before landing with former NASCAR Truck Series crew chief Rudy Fugle. Once the Hendrick Motorsports driver found his perfect partner, he lit up the Cup Series. Byron has won seven races in the last 365 days and has shown up more often than not.
Sure, some of those wins may been pure luck. Byron hasn’t been the best car in every single race he has won, but he has been in the right spot, just like the 2024 Daytona 500. At what point can we determine that Byron being in the right spot to pounce on a mistake is skill? It’s a testament to the No. 24 team as they continue to put him in the right situation.
Now, Byron is no longer a budding NASCAR star. He is a star. There may not be as much success as Johnson and Gordon when he is done racing, but it doesn’t need to be on that level. Byron doesn’t even need to be Larson or Elliott. He needs to be himself. Byron is a new-era NASCAR star who is finally living up to his potential, and he’s not going anywhere now.
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