DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As William Byron sat next to Jeff Gordon following his Daytona 500 victory Sunday night, he did so knowing he had broken one of Gordon’s coolest, most unique records.
Byron became the youngest driver (by about four months) to ever win two Daytona 500s, as the 27-year-old captured his second Daytona 500 trophy in back-to-back years.
“I hope he breaks them all.,” said Gordon, now a vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. “I’m in full support of that.”
Byron had already established himself as a key member of Hendrick history when he won NASCAR’s biggest race a year ago. Now he has the ninth and 10th Daytona 500 wins in the team’s record books.
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The team owner didn’t witness it in person. Rick Hendrick flew home to North Carolina during the rain delay and watched from his home. Hendrick returned to Florida early Monday morning for the champion’s breakfast and celebration.
As they stood on a stage to receive jackets and more trophies, Hendrick laughed about the record being broken.
“Jeff’s got records, and you think those records … they’re going to last forever,” Hendrick said. “It was just funny that that was a record that Jeff had, that William broke in the 24 [car].
“He’s got a long ways to go to have the wins Jeff Gordon had, but anytime you can do something like that and be a little bit younger, it’s good.”
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Gordon won 93 times during his career. For Byron, this marked his 14th career victory.
“William is different,” Hendrick said. “He’s a lot like [seven-time Cup champion] Jimmie Johnson. He thinks a lot. He’s very smart, and he tries to understand everything.
“He’s so laser-focused. … When you got somebody that smart that’s been able to accomplish what he has that fast. Some guys just have talent and some guys can be doing it forever, and they get to a level, and that’s as far as they’re going to go.”
Byron won an Xfinity championship for JR Motorsports at age 19 and moved to Hendrick Motorsports at age 20. Having initially groomed his racing skills competing in virtual racing for a few years before ever racing an actual car, Byron already has 253 career Cup starts.
“We talk all the time about how quickly he’s risen through the ranks and won races and championships and continues to do it at the elite level in Cup,” Gordon said.
He then pointed to Byron crew chief Rudy Fugle and said he plays a pivotal role. Hendrick said Byron would have had more wins if he hadn’t waited three years before hiring Fugle from Kyle Busch’s truck team, where Fugle and Byron had instant success before Byron moved to JR Motorsports.
“Rudy is just such an amazing crew chief and when you get that combination of great talent like William’s talent, like Rudy’s, and then put the team together with it, the resources that we have, magical things happen,” Gordon said.
“You couldn’t ask for it to happen to better people, too.”
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Byron has grown as a driver and it took time for the lifelong Johnson fan to feel comfortable driving the No. 24 car that Gordon made famous at Hendrick.
“When I got in the car, I was super uncomfortable with all the pressure and everything that comes with driving the 24 car,” Byron said.
“Now it’s like, OK, we’re building our own team, we have cool paint schemes … And it’s starting to all come together, and we’re really getting a personality to our team.”
They are building a legacy even with improbable wins like Sunday night’s Daytona 500. Byron won that one when several cars in front of him wrecked on the final lap and he slipped by on the outside.
“I was telling them, ‘You must be living right because the seas parted today,’” Gordon said.
For sure, they left the boss with an unbelievable moment.
“I’ve been leading this race coming off of [Turn] 4 and get wrecked a bunch,” Hendrick said. “It’s never over until it’s over.”
“I guess I was just a little numb because it was just the last lap. You’re just holding your breath. What I do every time there’s a wreck like that, I’d look for my cars — did they come out the other side or are they spinning in the grass. You’re so tense just trying to survive in the race, and then you just don’t have a chance for the emotion to come.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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