William Byron’s path to NASCAR’s top tier did not follow the traditional script. But he is pretty much at home alongside the sport’s elite right now. Unlike most drivers who begin in go-karts almost as soon as they can reach the pedals, Byron, 28, did not climb into a race car until his early teens.
Byron’s introduction to motorsports came through iRacing, where he picked up racecraft in a virtual environment before applying those skills to the real world. That unconventional foundation did little to slow his ascent, though.
Once Byron entered NASCAR’s national ranks in 2016, results followed quickly. His early years in the Truck and Xfinity Series progressed impressively. He won seven races during his rookie Truck season in 2017, and followed that with four victories in Xfinity, a performance that saw him win the 2017 championship.
The transition to the Cup Series, however, demanded patience. His first forays at the sport’s highest level proved more challenging. However, during that period, Byron relied heavily on guidance from within Hendrick Motorsports, particularly Chase Elliott.
In 2018, as he continued to learn the Cup Series and its finer details, Byron acknowledged that he was still a work in progress. Despite having legends such as Jeff Gordon available, he frequently turned to Elliott for perspective.
“I think I lean on all of them pretty equally. I think that I lean on Alex [Bowman] the least amount because we’re both new to what’s happening. We have little conversations of what our cars are doing here and there. But it’s not as broad of information as Chase or Jimmie [Johnson],” Byron had said.
The way Byron leaned on some drivers more than others in the team was logical. Elliott and Johnson represented recent success within the organization, and Byron recognized the value of measuring himself against drivers who consistently contended.
“I feel like Chase and Jimmie are the guys I lean on most because those are the guys that have had the most success the last couple [of] years in our organization. I try to gauge myself off of Chase a lot of times because I think we have very similar styles. We’re really close in the shop. It makes a little more sense for me to lean on him,” added Byron.
That willingness to learn has shaped Byron’s growth. Over eight Cup seasons, he has collected 16 wins across 288 starts. The past three seasons have reinforced his growth. Byron finished each year in the top four, securing a spot in the Championship 4.
The #24 driver captured back-to-back Daytona 500 wins in 2024 and 2025, a feat that places him in rare company and reflects his ability to perform on the sport’s biggest stage. Though Byron’s most prolific season came in 2023, when he won six times, his production has remained steady.
Over the last two seasons, Byron added three wins each year, maintaining his presence near the front of the field. And his decision to lean on the stalwarts like Johnson and Elliott seems to have elevated him as one of the top drivers of this generation.
