Motorsports
Everything to Know About NASCAR Driver William Byron
The NASCAR Cup Series is headed to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend for the 14th race of the 2025 season! How to Watch Catch up on past episodes of Race For The Championship on Peacock But before the racers can rev up their Next Gen chariots and hit Music City’s superspeedway for the Cracker Barrell 400, […]
The NASCAR Cup Series is headed to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend for the 14th race of the 2025 season!
But before the racers can rev up their Next Gen chariots and hit Music City’s superspeedway for the Cracker Barrell 400, we’re kicking off our profiles of Cup Series wheelmen with none other than Hendrick Motorsports’ elite driver, William Byron.
Who is William Byron?
Born November, 29, 1997 in Charlotte, North Carolina, William Byron is a NASCAR Cup Series driver who discovered his affinity for racing at just the tender age of six, after watching racing broadcasts on TV. That interest led his father to first take “Willy B,” as he’s affectionately known amongst his peers, to his first race at the acclaimed Martinsville Speedway three years later. Having caught the high-octane racing bug, Byron set out to hone his skills on the iRacingsimulator, capturing 100 wins to accompany his nearly 300 top-five finishes in online competitions. From there, the next step was to get Bryon in a car, which happened in 2012. As a 15-year-old, Byron began racing Legends, amassing 33 wins enroute to becoming the Legend Car Young Lions Division champion.
As he ascended the ranks through competition, Byron enjoyed success with every new challenge he undertook. When he signed with Justin Marks’ outfit HScott Motorsports in 2015 to compete in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East, now renamed to the ARCA Menards Series East, he notched a quartet of wins before winning the series championship and scoring the Rookie of Year award.
When he moved to the Craftsman Truck Series under Kyle Busch Motorsports, Byron’s skill in the fast lane powered him to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year award in 2016 as well.
William Byron and the Xfinity and Cup Series
His successful momentum paved the way for a smooth transition into the Xfinity Series the following year. While everyone knew Willy B was already a force to be reckoned with because of his innate skill behind the wheel, his heroic, overtime win at Daytona amidst a slew of wrecks proved he also had the other requisite ingredient to be an elite driver: intestinal fortitude. Steady in the face of a revolving door of obstacles on the track, Byron scored three more regular season victories before taking home the division’s ultimate prize of the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship.
Having climbed all other rungs, Byron’s time to join NASCAR’s coveted top flight came in 2018 after he replaced Hendrick Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne in the No. 5 car before he and that team’s crew moved to the No. 24 car, so his teammate Chase Elliott could claim the No. 9 car. That year, Byron again took home the Rookie of the Year award to become the second driver alongside Erik Jones to score the honor in consecutive seasons in each of the three national series. Now in his eighth year in the Cup Series, with 14 wins and 112 top-10 finishes in 265 total races, including consecutive Daytona 500 wins in 2024 and 2025, Bryon’s flag is firmly planted in the league with many wondering if this season will be his year to take home the grand prize of them all – the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
What kind of car does William Byron drive?
Having gone from simulator to track in record time with success following him literally everywhere he goes, Byron now drives the No. 24 Chevrolet ZL1 – the brand’s super-charged sixth generation Camaro – in the Cup Series for NASCAR titan, Hendrick Motorsports (HMS). When he participates in Xfinity races, he drives the No. 17 Chevrolet SS, and when competing part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series, he pilots the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST.
Nowadays, Byron, who graduated from Lynchburg, Virginia’s Liberty University, enjoys LEGO’s and snowboarding; counts Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch as his mentors; and he likes to drive trucks when he’s at home. After his father convinced him to buy it, Byron’s first recreational vehicle was a 2006 blue Chevy Silverado with a stick shift that Bryon credits to genuinely helping propel his NASCAR career. While he’s no longer dating Ryan Blaney’s sister Erin Blaney, no matter who’s riding shotgun in Willy B’s ride, they better like country music because groups like the Texas-based Eli Young Band will be the prevailing tunes on his Spotify playlist.