NEWS

RACKING UP THE POINTS: So far in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron has secured 13 playoff points – tied for the third-most by a driver so far this season with Denny Hamlin. In the last five races, the 24-year-old driver has collected 39 stage points – tied for the fourth-most with Ryan Blaney.

UP FRONT: Byron has led the second-most laps so far this season with 611 circuits out front, just behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott who has led 658. In fact, 122 of those laps led by Byron came at Richmond Raceway in April of this year – his second-most laps led in a single Cup Series race.

SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS: With the Cup Series taking on its third paved short-track event of the 2022 season, the driver of the No. 24 has momentum on his side after a third-place effort at Richmond and a win at Martinsville Speedway the following weekend. Since the start of 2021, Byron has five top-five finishes on short tracks – tied for the most with Martin Truex Jr. – and led 334 laps – the third-most behind Elliott and Hamlin. In his last four short-track starts, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has collected top-five finishes in all four races – the longest active streak in the Cup Series and his longest streak on short tracks. 

RIVER CITY LOWDOWN: Sunday’s race at Richmond will mark Byron’s ninth Cup Series start at the .75-mile track. He currently has a track-best finish of third that came in April of this season after starting on the front row. Aside from his eight Cup Series starts, Byron has made two NASCAR Xfinity Series appearances at the Virginia-based track, both in 2017. He earned a best starting position of sixth and finished seventh in the fall. He also has one ARCA Menards Series East start in 2015, when he won the pole and finished sixth. 

RUDY AT RICHMOND: Making his fourth Cup Series start at the .75-mile track Sunday, Fugle has six previous starts at the national level at Richmond – three in the Cup Series, one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and two in the Xfinity Series. His most recent starts at the short track came in April of this season in the Cup Series when Byron and the No. 24 team had a track-best weekend at Richmond, qualifying second, leading 122 laps and ultimately finishing third after being passed for the win with five laps to go. 

BACK TO HIS ROOTS: On Wednesday, Byron is behind the wheel of the No. 24 Super Late Model for Wilson Motorsports for the Battle at Berlin 250 at Berlin Raceway. Byron raced there earlier this year and captured the win – one of six wins he’s secured this year in the Super Late Model ranks.

LIBERTY U IS BACK: For back-to-back races, Byron will climb behind the wheel of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, this time at Richmond Raceway. Featuring a white base with navy flames and red accents, the Liberty University No. 24 will be sure to stand out on track. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in strategic communication, Byron is now in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. 

QUOTABLE //

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on if he’s in 'playoff mode' yet: "I don’t try to get into any sort of mode. I just try to race. We try, at times, to simulate what a playoff race would be like or things like that, but it never seems to work too well. We’re going to try our best when the playoffs start and we’re trying our best this weekend. Hopefully this weekend goes as we want it to. The only thing that races right now represent are the strengths or weaknesses at certain tracks. I feel like we’ve gotten the road courses pretty good, and we were really good at the short tracks earlier this year as well. Even though Richmond (Raceway) isn’t in the playoffs anymore, it’s a short track that will kind of represent a Phoenix (Raceway)-type track."

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his thoughts for Richmond: "We feel good about Richmond (Raceway). We ran really good there in the spring and led a lot of laps. The way that the pit strategy played out is the only reason we didn’t win. I could have made a different call but with the information I had at the time, I still feel like it was the right call. I’m just excited to get back there and give it another go. This race will be a day race instead of a night race. The track temperature will be higher which means you need more grip. You’ll have less grip in the track but more grip in the car hopefully and build off of that."