William Byron’s win at COTA wasn’t a fluke by any means. He was the fastest in practice; he qualified with the pole win and then dominated the entire field by leading 42 of the 68-lap race en route to his second triumph of the season. Needless to say, Rick Hendrick was quite impressed. And so was Vice Chairman, Jeff Gordon. However, for Gordon, it’s not just what Byron does on the track that stands out.
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What strikes Gordon the most about Byron’s career trajectory is that at the young age of just 26, the Charlotte native has exceeded the expectations of everyone behind the garage. “When you look at history and some of the best of the best throughout the years, certainly since I’ve been a part of NASCAR,” he said.
“You just don’t see somebody with this progression or this path to succeed at this level the way that he is yet, he’s defying all that.”
Being a former driver and a 4x Cup Series champion himself, Jeff Gordon is aware of the grind that a driver has to undergo throughout the week before making the final dash for the cash on the weekend. “He (Byron) makes up for the lack of experience he had prior to coming to the Cup Series through the way he focuses, the way he preps, the effort he puts in,” he admitted.
Byron is a living example of how capable youngsters like him are behind the wheel of a stock car. Certainly, Byron’s talent makes Hendrick Motorsports search for more like him.
How hard was winning at COTA for William Byron?
William Byron had won the pole 12 times before this weekend, but none of them had translated into a win. But that changed when the #24 driver held off a fast-charging Christopher Bell and secured his first road course victory of 2024. Was it flawless? ‘=
Maybe not, but all those countless hours of prep seemed to have overpowered the mistakes that he made.
“Yeah, I feel like I made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 laps; just little micro errors,” he admitted as per USA Today. “Put a lot of prep work in this week, and just thankful for the team I have around me, all the people back home as well. All those guys play an integral role in preparing. Just super thankful for having this opportunity…”
William Byron has emerged victorious in two of NASCAR’s last three street course races. On that note, one could argue that Byron is chasing that ‘road course king’ title too. Moreover, he is the only driver in 2024 to have more than one win in the Cup Series.
Can he follow it up with a back-to-back win at Richmond? Considering how good he has been so far, perhaps it wouldn’t be a shock.
