William Byron’s career progression is one that many drivers in racing will look at and envy. He grew up a hardcore fan of 7x Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, shared garages with him, and is now a prime candidate to be the next big thing at Hendrick Motorsports after him.
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Byron was as obsessed as fanboys got with NASCAR drivers as a kid. So it is obvious that he had a hard time getting over himself when he rose through the ranks of racing and met Johnson for the first time. Talking to Lindsay Czarniak about the same, Byron said, “I think that the first interaction I had with Jimmie was when I was running in the Truck Series. I was next to him at a media day and he was answering questions and I was answering questions and I was kind of shell-shocked by that.”
Thanks to Byron’s extraordinary skill behind the wheel, Rick Hendrick signed him up to race in the 2017 Xfinity Season. Unable to wait longer than required, Byron became champion in the 2017 season and got himself promoted to being his idol’s teammate in the Cup Series.
The kids who grow as racing fans and reach the top tiers of NASCAR don’t have the luxury of being star-struck for long. Byron said to Czarniak that they had to get over it quickly and focus on learning from those icons, since they were all in the heat of the battle. He also added that being a teammate of Johnson will remain something that he will look back at in the future and take joy in.
William Byron’s childhood obsession with Jimmie Johnson
Opening up about how much he enjoyed watching Johnson race, Byron said, “I went to every race. I had a #48 hat and honestly, every race I went to, he was my guy. So I remember almost all the paint schemes that he ran.” From yelling Johnson’s name in the stands to now taking the #24 car to 6 wins in a season, Byron has certainly come a long way.
He also mentioned that the one thing that surprised him about Johnson was that he was a very nice person. Byron believed that being so in a sport where not a lot of people look out for their teammates or others was a unique character. This past season was a big step up for Byron towards championship glory. He was one of the Championship 4 drivers at Phoenix and fell slightly short of being the champion after an incredible run throughout the year.
2024 will provide him with yet another chance to take the first step towards recreating the success that his idol had in NASCAR.
