The 2025 season will be William Byron’s eighth year driving the infamous No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro that once belonged to Jeff Gordon. The skilled driver has proven himself worthy of the ride at this time but is still not over the clout of getting to pilot a car with so much history and legacy behind it.
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He told former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick in a recent interview that the pressure of performance is something that never goes away when handling the No. 24 Camaro. Fortunately, he doesn’t view that as a negative factor. He said, “That pressure, I don’t know how it would feel in a different situation, but that pressure never goes away.”
“I won my first race, I won my 12th race, [and] it just continues, so there’s always that expectation, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Byron has won 13 races with the car so far. He reached the Championship 4 in 2023 and 2024. The peak of his achievements came in last year’s Daytona 500 when he won the crown jewel race.
“It’s like being on the Yankees.” @WilliamByron on the pressure and prestige of driving the No. 24 car for Hendrick Motorsports. @KevinHarvick | @TeamHendrick pic.twitter.com/6cvd7shIT8
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) February 13, 2025
Gordon and the NASCAR fandom showered him with immense love for taking the No. 24 car to such a prestigious victory lane. Heading in 2025, he has the opportunity to make them head over heels in love with him once again. Should he win the upcoming Great American Race, he will join an elite list of four legendary drivers that not even Gordon could enter.
Can Byron join NASCAR’s best this weekend?
In the long history of the Daytona 500, only four drivers have won the race consecutively. Richard Petty did it in 1973 and 1974. Cale Yarborough did it in 1983 and 1984. Sterling Marlin did it in 1994 and 1995. Most recently, Denny Hamlin did it in 2019 and 2020. Byron has the golden chance to become the fifth name on this exclusive list.
Gordon won three Daytona 500s in his career. But never did he win it consecutively. Byron fulfilling the dream in his place would be nothing short of a fairy tale for the No. 24 Camaro. The 27-year-old is aware that positioning himself throughout the race is the key to winning again.
“I think that being in the right place and being able to have the right tactical sort of advantage and knowing where to be on the racetrack is huge,” he told First Coast News. Mental strength and agility will be as important as physical endurance this weekend. Hopefully, he comes out on top when the sun falls on Sunday.
