This one has took a little to come together due, but I have finally got my second driver entry available. It on my previous drivers Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron. I'm gonna do my best to give you an abundance of backstory on this young man, and where I see his career going in the future. Hopefully I'll here some valuable input from all of this young mans fans.
William Byron became very interested in the racing scene at the young age of six. After becoming dominantly popular on the Iracing scene, with one hundred online wins. William became a huge student of the sport and was all in on becoming a racer. Once he realized that this was way more than just hobby William's dad took a visit to the legend cars headquarters in North Carolina. After a legends race in Concord, North Carolina his legends career began. At the ripe age of fifteen which is older than most drivers who get into the sport(picture to the left William driving in 2014). William won nearly half of the races he was in across the country in 2013, and with 33 victories he became legends National Champion. This was only the bite that was about to lead to whole lot of fishing for this young man in the racing scene.
In 2014 a pretty good scout of talent Dale Earnhardt Jr and his regional late model team came a knocking William opened the door.
William's first year working with Jr. was a productive one. Racing in the late model program wasn't all he did that season. William decided to race in the K&N East series for the first time. While getting his feet wet in the late models with a single victory. The "young gun" went on to finish in the top five fifteen times and finish second in points to round out the year with Jr Motorsports. The start of his 2015 season in the K&N series went just a little bit better. William won his second start at Greenville Pickens Speedway in Greenville, North Carolina. That would only be the beginning of a great year for the young study. He would go onto lead 43% of the laps he ran during the racing year. A feat a little more interesting is the whole year his average starting position was no less than fourth and wouldn't finish any lower than seventh on average. William has always been a competitor though and that season it showed he competed thirty six different times across four different series. He came away with five poles,six wins, and nineteen top five finishes. Those stats would lead to William winning the K&N east championship and rookie of the year. The young study of the sport was growing into his racing shoes so to speak, and some pretty big names noticed it. I mean he had already race for Dale Jr. The opportunities
were only gonna continue.
Well, at the end of his 2015 racing season Kyle Busch and his truck series team had a seat open for one young driver, and that just so happen to be one William Byron.
KBM had just come off the winning the driver's and its third owner championship so the young kid had some driving to live up too for the championship caliber team. The rookie driver didnt get off to the fast start he was a custom too. Crashing on the final lap of the first race at Daytona and then having engine trouble at Atlanta. The season was looking to be more of a challenge than anyone couldve seen, but just like all the other challenges William began to make some headway. After a horrible start, he would get his first top five finish the following race at Martinsville. That top five was the first of eleven for the young driver from North Carolina. William went on to capture his first win in May at Kansas. He wouldn't stop there winning six more times at tracks like Texas,Iowa,Kentucky,Pocono,New Hampshire and even the last race of the season at Homestead. William even broke his owner's brother truck series record at Pocono for the most wins. Unfortunately, for a team that had hopes of winning back-to-back driver's championships they would be killed in the round of six. William looked to be poised for a run when his motor failed at Phoenix which costed him the opportunity to run for the championship. William didn't let some bad luck stop him like before. Even though he couldn't win the championship, he would win the race and therefore claiming KBM another owners championship. What the young driver accomplished in one year was unheard of and everyone was paying attention especially a guy who has a knack for seeing young talent Rick Hendrick.
William Byron didn't get to win his truck series championship due to some bad luck. What he did was almost as good. On August 18th before his amazing rookie truck season was over William had signed a deal with Rick Hendrick. Therefore in doing so he would be able to race for Dale Jr again, and he was all to familiar with being successful for that guy. William would be racing a car, that was driven by one Chase Elliott who in his own right had been pretty successful winning an Xfinity Championship his rookie year. Chase was moving on to take the wheel of the iconic number twenty four driven by Jeff Gordon. Leaving the vacancy in the number nine. William would start off his rookie season a lot better this go round. Averaging in the first five race a finishing spot of no worse than eighth. The luck was about to run out though with Byron having a string of finishes outside of the top ten. William would go onto learn from his string of bad luck and rebound at Dover for a sixth place spot. Little did anyone know just three short weeks later the young man was about to shoot a spark that lit the fire under a championship caliber team. William came into Iowa Speedway with some experience winning just one year prior. William won his third career truck series victory at Iowa and if he was gonna have a chance capture his first Xfinity series win it was gonna be here. Christopher Bell and Ryan Sieg were competing late when they eventually wrecked giving the lead to William and he didnt look back taking the 9 team to victory lane for the first time. William didn't stop there like the prior season all it took was one win. William got his taste of the checkered flag and went onto win two more times before the playoff at some historic tracks Daytona, and Indianapolis. The taste of victory is an addicting thing for a young man with the talents of William. When the playoffs rolled around the young man was poised to take a stroll into history. William's fourth win would come at Phoenix just before the championship four race at Homestead. William went into Homestead with a horrible taste in his mouth due to winning the prior season, but not having any chance of winning a championship. Late in the race Williams teammate was racing hard for a victory when he got tangled up and into the wall allowing William to pass Sadler, and maintain the position ahead of Sadler. Without a win like his prior trip to Homestead, William came in third which bested his teammate Sadler to win the Xfinity Series Championship. William was over flowing with talent, and was poised to make the quick jump to the big series. Which, is what was poised to happen even before William won his championship. On August 9th, it was agreed upon that William would be taking over the 5 car for the departing Kasey Kahne. Twenty short days later it was announce publicly that William would be taking over the 24 car with the personnel being from the 5 squad. While, the current driver of the 24 would be switching to drive the 9 car with the 24 team personnel. It would shape up to be an interesting first season for the young man.
Here and now is the Future!
I have a strong feeling about this young man, as a fan of this sport. William thus far has had some really rough luck averaging a seventeenth finishing place. William struggled to an extent in all of his prior experiences and then all it took was one or two really good runs before this young man went on a roll. Due to some pit strategy at ISM the rookie was able to lead his first lap. After the race he was quoted saying "It just showed myself that I can do it" and do it is exactly what he did a few weeks later at Texas. William got his first top ten at Texas two weeks ago, and after his horrible qualifying efforts was lucky enough to secure a top ten start at Bristol after Kurt Busch had to start in the back due to a wreck in practice. His qualifying fortunes would continue on this past weekend at Richmond with a top ten start. Byron said in an interview with NASCAR.com at the beginning of March saying "once it clicks, its going to be the same as any other series, and you know what you need in the car, and you know how to produce results..." William has proven in every single series thus far that his quote is exactly true, and if you watch the young man race these last couple of races you see the confidence blooming. William was consistently running in the top ten all night long in Richmond. At some points it looked like the 24 team had a race winning car. William has improved as a driver more and more every single race, and his crew has grown to understand what he wants more and more. This young man is what this sport needs more of, on the race broad cast Jeff Gordon said that William is such a student of the sport that in practice he followed the 42 and 1 cars around the track just to see where or if he could improve. William unfortunately had a pit road penalty and that took them outta contention for the win. With that being said this young man had a chance and that's something to grow on. There are not to many of those young guns left like that, a lot of young driver rely on there ability or machine hoping for them alone to bring them into the win. The late great Dale Earnhardt once said "Finishing races is important, but racing is more important" and I believe as the season goes on we will see that more and more from this young man. Onto Dega right? Well here's my thought's on his chances there I believe this is a track that anyone has a chance to win, so why not William? His luck has been hit or miss at the super speedway with a thirty sixth place finish in his first Xfinity race and a tenth place finish in the trucks. So this week will be interesting to see. If William learns the draft a little better this go round, his team brings him a fast car there is no reason why this young man can not get his first win here, and watch out if he does. All it takes is one from this young man and he will start to run away from you. Stay tuned for my William Byron fans I'm gonna attempt to cover this young man week in and week out!
William's first year working with Jr. was a productive one. Racing in the late model program wasn't all he did that season. William decided to race in the K&N East series for the first time. While getting his feet wet in the late models with a single victory. The "young gun" went on to finish in the top five fifteen times and finish second in points to round out the year with Jr Motorsports. The start of his 2015 season in the K&N series went just a little bit better. William won his second start at Greenville Pickens Speedway in Greenville, North Carolina. That would only be the beginning of a great year for the young study. He would go onto lead 43% of the laps he ran during the racing year. A feat a little more interesting is the whole year his average starting position was no less than fourth and wouldn't finish any lower than seventh on average. William has always been a competitor though and that season it showed he competed thirty six different times across four different series. He came away with five poles,six wins, and nineteen top five finishes. Those stats would lead to William winning the K&N east championship and rookie of the year. The young study of the sport was growing into his racing shoes so to speak, and some pretty big names noticed it. I mean he had already race for Dale Jr. The opportunities
were only gonna continue.
Well, at the end of his 2015 racing season Kyle Busch and his truck series team had a seat open for one young driver, and that just so happen to be one William Byron.
KBM had just come off the winning the driver's and its third owner championship so the young kid had some driving to live up too for the championship caliber team. The rookie driver didnt get off to the fast start he was a custom too. Crashing on the final lap of the first race at Daytona and then having engine trouble at Atlanta. The season was looking to be more of a challenge than anyone couldve seen, but just like all the other challenges William began to make some headway. After a horrible start, he would get his first top five finish the following race at Martinsville. That top five was the first of eleven for the young driver from North Carolina. William went on to capture his first win in May at Kansas. He wouldn't stop there winning six more times at tracks like Texas,Iowa,Kentucky,Pocono,New Hampshire and even the last race of the season at Homestead. William even broke his owner's brother truck series record at Pocono for the most wins. Unfortunately, for a team that had hopes of winning back-to-back driver's championships they would be killed in the round of six. William looked to be poised for a run when his motor failed at Phoenix which costed him the opportunity to run for the championship. William didn't let some bad luck stop him like before. Even though he couldn't win the championship, he would win the race and therefore claiming KBM another owners championship. What the young driver accomplished in one year was unheard of and everyone was paying attention especially a guy who has a knack for seeing young talent Rick Hendrick.William Byron didn't get to win his truck series championship due to some bad luck. What he did was almost as good. On August 18th before his amazing rookie truck season was over William had signed a deal with Rick Hendrick. Therefore in doing so he would be able to race for Dale Jr again, and he was all to familiar with being successful for that guy. William would be racing a car, that was driven by one Chase Elliott who in his own right had been pretty successful winning an Xfinity Championship his rookie year. Chase was moving on to take the wheel of the iconic number twenty four driven by Jeff Gordon. Leaving the vacancy in the number nine. William would start off his rookie season a lot better this go round. Averaging in the first five race a finishing spot of no worse than eighth. The luck was about to run out though with Byron having a string of finishes outside of the top ten. William would go onto learn from his string of bad luck and rebound at Dover for a sixth place spot. Little did anyone know just three short weeks later the young man was about to shoot a spark that lit the fire under a championship caliber team. William came into Iowa Speedway with some experience winning just one year prior. William won his third career truck series victory at Iowa and if he was gonna have a chance capture his first Xfinity series win it was gonna be here. Christopher Bell and Ryan Sieg were competing late when they eventually wrecked giving the lead to William and he didnt look back taking the 9 team to victory lane for the first time. William didn't stop there like the prior season all it took was one win. William got his taste of the checkered flag and went onto win two more times before the playoff at some historic tracks Daytona, and Indianapolis. The taste of victory is an addicting thing for a young man with the talents of William. When the playoffs rolled around the young man was poised to take a stroll into history. William's fourth win would come at Phoenix just before the championship four race at Homestead. William went into Homestead with a horrible taste in his mouth due to winning the prior season, but not having any chance of winning a championship. Late in the race Williams teammate was racing hard for a victory when he got tangled up and into the wall allowing William to pass Sadler, and maintain the position ahead of Sadler. Without a win like his prior trip to Homestead, William came in third which bested his teammate Sadler to win the Xfinity Series Championship. William was over flowing with talent, and was poised to make the quick jump to the big series. Which, is what was poised to happen even before William won his championship. On August 9th, it was agreed upon that William would be taking over the 5 car for the departing Kasey Kahne. Twenty short days later it was announce publicly that William would be taking over the 24 car with the personnel being from the 5 squad. While, the current driver of the 24 would be switching to drive the 9 car with the 24 team personnel. It would shape up to be an interesting first season for the young man.Here and now is the Future!
I have a strong feeling about this young man, as a fan of this sport. William thus far has had some really rough luck averaging a seventeenth finishing place. William struggled to an extent in all of his prior experiences and then all it took was one or two really good runs before this young man went on a roll. Due to some pit strategy at ISM the rookie was able to lead his first lap. After the race he was quoted saying "It just showed myself that I can do it" and do it is exactly what he did a few weeks later at Texas. William got his first top ten at Texas two weeks ago, and after his horrible qualifying efforts was lucky enough to secure a top ten start at Bristol after Kurt Busch had to start in the back due to a wreck in practice. His qualifying fortunes would continue on this past weekend at Richmond with a top ten start. Byron said in an interview with NASCAR.com at the beginning of March saying "once it clicks, its going to be the same as any other series, and you know what you need in the car, and you know how to produce results..." William has proven in every single series thus far that his quote is exactly true, and if you watch the young man race these last couple of races you see the confidence blooming. William was consistently running in the top ten all night long in Richmond. At some points it looked like the 24 team had a race winning car. William has improved as a driver more and more every single race, and his crew has grown to understand what he wants more and more. This young man is what this sport needs more of, on the race broad cast Jeff Gordon said that William is such a student of the sport that in practice he followed the 42 and 1 cars around the track just to see where or if he could improve. William unfortunately had a pit road penalty and that took them outta contention for the win. With that being said this young man had a chance and that's something to grow on. There are not to many of those young guns left like that, a lot of young driver rely on there ability or machine hoping for them alone to bring them into the win. The late great Dale Earnhardt once said "Finishing races is important, but racing is more important" and I believe as the season goes on we will see that more and more from this young man. Onto Dega right? Well here's my thought's on his chances there I believe this is a track that anyone has a chance to win, so why not William? His luck has been hit or miss at the super speedway with a thirty sixth place finish in his first Xfinity race and a tenth place finish in the trucks. So this week will be interesting to see. If William learns the draft a little better this go round, his team brings him a fast car there is no reason why this young man can not get his first win here, and watch out if he does. All it takes is one from this young man and he will start to run away from you. Stay tuned for my William Byron fans I'm gonna attempt to cover this young man week in and week out!
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