RELATED: Byron inks deal with Hendrick. scores JRM XFINITY ride for ’17
BRISTOL, Tenn. — The only thing more stunning than William Byron’s signing with Hendrick Motorsports was the swiftness with how competitive the youngster became after taking a ride with Kyle Busch Motorsports for 2016.
Byron, 18, had only one career start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series prior to this season. Through this year’s first 13 races, he leads the series in wins with five and sits atop the points standings.
“He’s taken that garage by storm,” David Wilson, President and General Manager, Toyota Racing Development, USA, said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “We thought he was talented; he won a K&N championship. But that’s not the end-all. But what he’s done the first half of the season has taken all of us kind of by surprise. I don’t think we were anticipating the next step this soon; I don’t think William was anticipating it this soon.”
That “next step” is a full-time ride with JR Motorsports, the XFINITY Series arm of Hendrick Motorsports co-owned by driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.
Hendrick officials announced the signing of Byron Thursday. JRM currently fields two full-time entries in the XFINITY Series with drivers Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler, as well as a third full-time entry driven by an assortment of competitors.
KBM, owned by defending Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, fields full-time entries in the Camping World Truck Series for drivers Byron and Christopher Bell as well as a third that’s featured Cody Coughlin, Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez behind the wheel. The organization is affiliated with Joe Gibbs Racing, for whom Busch and Suarez compete.
There’s no anger, only disappointment in the Byron move, Wilson said.
“We feel so fortunate and grateful that we have such a deep bench … this sounds overly magnanimous but the sport still wins, right?” he said. “William is such a good kid, a nice young man. Hendrick and JRM are going to benefit from it and the sport is going to benefit from it.
“I have to be gracious about it. One of the things that people don’t perhaps realize and accept is that he’s been with Toyota for a few months. He’s been in a Chevy, he’s been with JRM, his first full-bodied car was a JRM Late Model.
“We knew that going into it.”
RELATED: Furniture Row expands to two cars for 2017
The Toyota driver pipeline is deep and talented. Furniture Row Racing officials recently announced the addition of a second Sprint Cup Series team that will feature Jones as its driver, joining current driver Martin Truex Jr. Bell and Suarez are also expected to continue to move up the ladder while others in lower series, such as K&N, are being groomed for possible advancement.
“This isn’t going to dissuade us,” Wilson said. “We know that this won’t be the last time we lose a driver from our ‘stable.’ But in the end the sport benefits and we will endeavor to try and do the best job we can with these young kids.”