Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of four stories examining why each Championship 4 driver could win the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
Tuesday: Kyle Larson
Wednesday: Christopher Bell
Thursday: William Byron
Friday: Ryan Blaney
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William Byron will win the 2023 championship because …
The second verse is the same as the first in 2023.
William Byron enters the season finale the youngest of the Championship 4, but age is just a number when it comes to performing at the top level in the NASCAR Cup Series, and Byron has done just that. Leading the series with six wins on the year, including the spring race at Phoenix, he’s proven to be a race-winning contender week in and week out in what has been a superstar-type of breakout season.
Byron showed up in the spring Phoenix race during the pressure-packed final restart, edging out his Championship 4 counterparts, who all finished inside the top 10. If and when it comes time to take the gloves off, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native can be one of the best at closing the deal.
Byron is one of the pioneers who came from sim to seat and didn’t take long to become one of the top names in the Cup Series. Team owner Rick Hendrick compares the 25-year-old to the former driver of the No. 24, Jeff Gordon; opening the door for the next generation of drivers.
RELATED: William Byron’s career through the years
“If you take a kid that didn’t grow up in the sport, that had no connections in the sport, that was able to go to college and do all the things he has done, learning how to race on a computer, I think that is kind of like when Jeff Gordon came on the scene and opened the door for a lot of open-wheel guys,” Hendrick said. “I think William is a great example for a lot of kids, young people, that have a dream of racing in this sport, seeing that you can put those tools to work and accomplish something pretty spectacular.”
The championship does not solely rest on the shoulders of Byron. The No. 24 pit crew, led by crew chief Rudy Fugle, has been simply the best out of not only the Championship 4 contenders, but the entire field. After 35 races in the 2023 season, the No. 24 pit crew remains in the top spot with the fastest average four-tire pit stop time of 10.940 seconds, making them the team to watch should it come down to the final race off pit road as it has so many years in the past.
And while the driver comes into the Championship after a difficult showing at Martinsville, he’s still been the best driver of the postseason. No one can top his average finish of 6.3 in nine races — or his five top fives and seven top 10s.
For William Byron on Sunday, the story will be the same — to show that same consistency and late-race aggression that scored the team a victory at this track in the spring. Only this time, it’ll be for the title.
Key stats: 6 wins, 20 top 10s, 14 top fives, 4 poles, 921 laps led, 11.2 average start, 11.2 average finish.
Championship 4 history: This is William Byron’s first appearance in the Championship 4.
Defining 2023 moment: His 13th-place run at Martinsville Speedway to clinch his spot into his first Championship 4, the only driver to do so on points.
Watch out for: The split agenda in the Hendrick Motorsports shop. William Byron enters Sunday’s race with a teammate in the Championship 4 (Kyle Larson). Larson was able to focus on Phoenix before anyone else, given his win in the Round of 8 opener — the eyes aren’t solely focused on the No. 24 team for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday.