Byron launches Hendrick’s 40th anniversary season with Daytona 500 victory
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The goal was obvious to William Byron: put the No. 24 Chevrolet in victory lane in the 2024 Daytona 500 to launch Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary season.
Mission accomplished, even if Byron had to complete an agonizing final lap under caution around Daytona International Speedway awaiting the winner to be declared.
“Did we win it? Did we win it?” Byron kept asking over his radio.
The emotion he heard over his radio from crew chief Rudy Fugle confirmed Byon had just won the biggest race of his career.
“Well, no one told me. And Rudy was crying on the radio, so I was like ‘Dude, I hope he’s crying for good reason,’ ” Byron said. “I guess he was a ball of emotion there, and so I was like ‘Did we actually win or not?’ ”
Byron snapped Hendrick Motorsports’ nine-race Daytona 500 losing streak with a win Monday in the rain-delayed “Great American Race.” The 26-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., crossed under the white flag denoting the final lap at the exact moment a crash broke out behind him. The caution flag was thrown and he wasn’t quite sure if he was the official winner as he circled Daytona one final time.
The last Hendrick driver to win the Daytona 500 was Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2014. Byron is the sixth different driver to win the 500 for Rick Hendrick, the winningest team owner in NASCAR history who made his way to victory lane on the actual 40th anniversary of his first Cup win.
“The first time we came here, we didn’t think we had any business even being here,” Hendrick said in victory lane. “We felt way out of our league. Now here we are 40 years later. You couldn’t write the script any better. To win this on the 40th, to the day, it’s just awesome.”
The ninth Daytona 500 win for Hendrick Motorsports tied the team with Petty Enterprises for most in NASCAR history.
“William Byron was already a superstar, and I mean, he just went to another level of being superstar,” said Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon, himself a three-time Daytona 500 winner in the No. 24 Chevrolet.