2024 NASCAR season in review: William Byron

A second consecutive appearance in the Championship 4 in 2024 leaves William Byron wanting more.

The 2024 season started out great for Byron, as he won his first Daytona 500. He won three of the first eight races but did not win again the rest of the season.

Byron has won 11 races since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022. The 27-year-old driver and crew chief Rudy Fogle have built a formidable team.

Long: William Byron’s journey to Daytona 500 champion is a remarkable tale

William Byron didn’t start driving cars until he was 14. A dozen years later, he won the sport’s biggest race.

• Dustin Long,

• Dustin Long,

CREW CHIEF: Rudy Fugle

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

POINTS: 3rd

WINS: 3 (Daytona 500, COTA, Martinsville I)

LAPS LED: 357

TOP 5s: 13

TOP 10s: 21

STARTS FROM POLE: 1 (COTA)

Byron's excellence on display in special HMS win

Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton discuss William Byron's "excellence," now winning 3 of the first 8 Cup Series races, Hendrick Motorsports finishing 1-2-3 at Martinsville and a big picture look at the short track package.

WHAT WENT RIGHT: Won the Daytona 500. Byron won three of the season’s first eight races. Scored seven top 10s in the first 10 races of the year. Finished no worse than sixth in the last seven races of the playoffs. Tied his career high with 21 top 10s. Third year in a row he won multiple races in a season. Ranked second in the series in average start at 9.6. Only teammate Kyle Larson had a better average starting spot (8.7).

WHAT WENT WRONG: After winning three of the first eight races of the season, Byron went winless the rest of the year. He had eight finishes of 25th or worse. His 357 laps led were the fewest he’s led since 2020. He led 659 fewer laps in 2024 than he did in 2023.

WILLIAM BYRON SAID: “Daytona 500, Championship 4, all that was good, but there’s still more to go get. I thought it was kind of a growing year for us in a lot of different ways. I felt like we went through a lot of adversity and we came out the other side in a position to compete for the championship. I think it was a good year. I would like to have more speed next year and just lead more laps. I think a lot of that is in my control and our team’s control. I think we can work on that in the offseason, kind of getting a little better at certain tracks. Definitely Phoenix is high on that list. We’ve got a lot of room to improve there.”

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2025: Combine what he did the first 10 races and final seven races of the season and Byron had three wins, nine top fives and 14 top 10s in 17 starts. It’s hard to maintain that, but if he can come close, he’ll be back in the Championship 4 in 2025.