William Byron’s rise through the NASCAR ranks has been considered an outlier story in a sport built on generational garages and dirt-track apprenticeships. He didn’t grow up wrenching on family-owned cars or watching his parents chase titles.
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Instead, Byron became captivated by the sport as a six-year-old after seeing stock cars thunder on his TV screen. The spark grew into something deeper when he attended the Martinsville race in 2006.
From there, he honed his instincts, not behind a steering wheel but behind a monitor, piling up more than 100 wins and nearly 300 top-5s on iRacing before he ever strapped into a real race car. Byron’s unconventional route didn’t shield him from the grind, though. It perhaps made the ladder steeper.
With no established racing lineage to lean on and backed by his father, who built his career as a wealth management advisor rather than a crew chief or driver, Byron had to claw his way forward with little determination. He didn’t begin racing in the real world until the summer of 2012, when he took his first steps in Legends cars.
Reflecting on the sacrifices that carried him from simulation to the Cup Series, he said, “I’ve sacrificed a lot, I feel like. My family has sacrificed a lot of time and effort into my career. And I’ve sacrificed a lot of nights and weekends to be on the road to race.”
Byron enjoyed every bit of it, despite the grind. “I feel like it’s a sacrifice; in any sports you really want to be successful in, it’s a big sacrifice. So, I feel like it’s been well worth it, and I love what I do,” he added.
Byron reached the Cup Series full-time in 2018, barely seven years after climbing into his first real car and only months removed from his teenage years. Competing at NASCAR’s highest level before turning 21 forced him into a crash course in adulthood that most drivers encounter much later.
“It’s forced me to kind of get into more of a business and performance state quicker in my life than most people. So I’ve been forced to grow up really fast and make sure I develop to where I need to be competitive at this level,” said Byron.
“It’s definitely a man’s sport, and you have to prepare yourself really well and make sure you’re doing all the things necessary in your personal life, too, to be at your best,” he admitted.
In the years since, Byron has shown that, despite his unorthodox path, he belongs in NASCAR. He has stood toe-to-toe with veterans and championship-caliber teammates, emerging as one of Hendrick Motorsports’ most reliable title contenders.
Across eight full-time seasons in the Cup Series, the 28-year-old has displayed peak form, reaching the Championship 4 in the last three years and finishing P3, P3, and P4 in those campaigns. His stat line boasts 16 wins in 288 starts.
