26-year-old William Byron has made it a habit of late to break records and write new pages of history. He won the latest Cup Series race in COTA. His victory was remarkable for the reason that it was his 10th in the Next Gen car. No other driver has won as many times so far and it has put Byron alongside a few elite names.
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Since NASCAR racing first began in 1948, there have been seven generations of cars. Many drivers have mastered each of these generations and proved to be the best race car drivers in American motorsports. But few have adapted to them quickly and won races easiest in them. For the second generation car (1967-1980), it was Richard Petty, who took a mere 23 races to reach the 10-win mark.
In the fifth generation car (2007-2012), Jimmie Johnson proved expert and won 10 races in 45 appearances. The sixth generation car (2013-2021) proved a little bit trickier for him though. While he did become the first driver to reach 10 wins, it took him 70 races to do it. Byron’s feat of 10 victories has come after 78 races in the seventh-generation car.
Byron now has 12 career victories and is tied with Terry Labonte on the all-time Hendrick Motorsports winners list. Nailing down his place in the 2024 playoffs, he now comfortably sits 6th in the driver points table.
The Jeff Gordon record that Byron matched with his win at COTA
Joining Johnson and Petty wasn’t the only prestige that Byron earned through his win on Sunday. This is the 3rd consecutive season in which he has become the first driver to win multiple races. This is an achievement that was previously done only by the predecessor of his #24 Chevy Camaro, Jeff Gordon. The Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman did the feat between 1997 and 1999.
Byron’s victory was a narrow one of 0.692 seconds ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell. Though there was all the cause for celebration after the race, he was wary of how his car’s speed waned in the final laps of the race and reiterated to the press that he would be working on it. His next race will be at the Richmond Raceway this weekend.
