But Jeff and I have gotten really close over the last few years. So I think, honestly, I still obviously have a great relationship with Jimmie. And I've grown really fond of Jeff just getting to know him personally. I was obviously a Jimmie fan, but being a Hendrick fan, I loved both of them. What was it like driving the 24 and were you a Gordon fan, too? You were a Jimmie Johnson fan growing up. And then when we started to win races and win multiple, it seems like they've always been there for us. And I think the fans stuck by us, and they continued to support us. It definitely was tougher than I expected. Looking back, I didn't struggle as bad as I thought I was compared to the modern-day rookie. So I feel like that's always been there for me, even my rookie year when I struggled a little bit. I think we get a lot of support from a lot of traditional Hendrick fans, 24 fans. So that's advice for any kid out there.ĭoes the 24 still carry the significance in the sport for Jeff Gordon fans? Do you find that you still have a lot of them because you drive that number? My mom and dad, they definitely were wondering what I was doing all the time. But definitely the late model ranks, going back and racing against the best of the best has been fun.ĭid anybody ever tell you growing up that you're spending too much time racing on the computer? I didn't need a lot of growth in those series, I don't think, for how quickly I came through. And I probably have run 20-to-25 of those across the country the last three years, so it's been great. When Rudy and I got together, he really pushed me to go run some more late model events. You did some late model stuff before you did a lot of NASCAR national, but you almost have done more late model stuff the past three or four years. I think I've gotten both sides of the sim world and racing around short tracks around the country. I feel like I've been in a lot of different situations. But I feel like personally, over the last three, four years of my career, I've really raced a lot across the country - a lot of short tracks. And I'm always going to have roots there. I've noticed the sport really evolve and how much we use simulation. I feel like I have an advantage in that sense. And it's nice that the sport is working in that direction. So I think data and simulation has always been that for me. I feel like that's my nature - I'm very data driven, facts driven, and I like to look at things in black and white. I think that I'm always the computer kid that everyone looks at, which I embrace. And I feel like that's how I perform is just putting all my emphasis on each race weekend.ĭo you still feel like you are kind of carrying the banner for iRacing and that being the development tool to get into the sport?

I won't really think about Phoenix until the week of because that's just how I process races. But obviously the win there in the spring shows that we're capable, and I feel like we can show up there with good speed going into that race. We just need a couple of small improvements to be a little bit better.

Phoenix has been a hit-or-miss track for us, but we've always seemed to hang around the top-10 there. But Rudy and I collectively have had experience in those kind of situations, so I feel like we're poised in those positions. We definitely don't have the experience at this level in that kind of race. Which is a bigger deal: the fact that you won there and have confidence or not knowing what it's like in that scenario? But you've also never been in the final race running for the championship. What's it like going in knowing some people are looking at you as a favorite rather than one of the guys people aren't sure about? 24 - a number made famous by now-Hendrick Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon - while growing up a fan of Jimmie Johnson, a teammate but somewhat rival of Gordon's. Last week at Bristol, Byron talked with FOX Sports about now being a championship favorite with the victories and Rudy Fugle as his crew chief, being the driver everyone knows was the first to really use iRacing to learn the sport before actually racing a car, and being the driver of the No. But with five victories and more than 200 Cup starts for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, Byron is now considered someone who should make his first appearance at Phoenix among the four drivers with a shot at the championship. atop the standings heading into the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.īyron typically enters the playoffs as an underdog and just getting out of this Round of 12 would have been considered a solid season.

William Byron leads the NASCAR Cup Series with five victories and is tied with Martin Truex Jr.

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