Young Willy B, William Byron has accomplished much in his NASCAR career, going from iRacing to ARCA East Champion. ARCA East to 8 Craftsman Truck Series victories, Craftsman Trucks to Xfinity Series Champion with 4 series wins. He took over the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series team from Kasey Kahne in 2018. Hendrick rebranded the 5 team into the 24 team, bringing back one of the most successful numbers in NASCAR history, and those are some massive shoes to fill. Since his first start at the 2018 Daytona 500, Byron has become one of the top-performing Hendrick Motorsports drivers and is beginning to fill those shoes quite nicely.

Since he took over the 24, William Byron has netted 11 Cup Series victories and a Round of 4 Championship appearance in 2023. He has accomplished a lot in his short tenure at Hendrick Motorsports, including becoming the No. 1 driver for the team last season. His only 2 missing accomplishments being a Championship and a Daytona 500… Until last night.

After a 26-hour delay, the 66th running of the Great American Race began on Monday afternoon, with Byron wasting no time from his 18th starting spot to move up the field. Bryon managed to score 6 Stage Points in Stage 1 and remained in contention in Stage 2, where he scored another 5.

Bryon would be caught up in the penultimate caution flag of the evening after a bad push from his teammate Bowman, his car turning left into the No. 6 Mustang of Brad Keselowski, causing some slight damage to his left front. Crew Chief Rudy Fugle, when interviewed on FOX, did not seem too worried about the damage and kept Byron out on the race track for the final restart.

Byron would lead the final 4 laps of the Daytona 500 despite hard charges from Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman and being only inches away from being hooked by a spinning Chastain coming to the white flag, would hold out to win by only inches as the caution flew.

William Byron would go on to score a major milestone victory not only for himself but also for Hendrick Motorsports and the iconic number he drove into Victory Lane. Firstly, for Hendrick, Byron’s win comes on the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports’ first Cup Series start. His win is also the 302nd win for Hendrick in the Cup Series. Byron’s win is also a major milestone for his iconic HMS No. 24.

The No. 24 won 3 Daytona 500s with Hall of Famer and team Vice President Jeff Gordon behind the wheel. Those wins came in 1997, 1999, and 2005. Byron’s win marks 19 years since the iconic No. 24 has graced Victory Lane at the Daytona 500.

William Byron’s 2024 Daytona 500 victory means he is the first driver in the series to lock himself into the Playoffs and in doing so, cores himself those 5 all important Playoff Points with a sure bet that this will not be the only time you see the 24 in Victory Lane in 2024.