With victory in the Daytona 500, William Byron has arrived as NASCAR's next superstar

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A prospect not to be missed. Child prodigy. Future superstar. These are all labels placed on William Byron as he climbed the NASCAR development ladder. Some drivers who receive this heavy praise fail to live up to expectations. Somewhere along the way the rocket fails and the once promising career does not go as expected. They plateau. The opportunities don't work out.

It's a story that has played out many times in NASCAR history. But Byron is quite an exception. At 26 years old, he has already proven to be the can't-miss prospect.

He won a big win in his only year in the Truck Series in 2016. He won the 2017 Xfinity Series championship as a rookie. Since his Cup debut, he drove for Hendrick Motorsports, earning Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors in 2018 before qualifying for the playoffs the following season and every season after that. And after his Daytona 500 win on Monday night, he now has 11 victories at NASCAR's highest level. That figure may seem low at first glance, considering Byron is in his seventh year in Cup, but since 2020 – the season in which he won his first race – his 11 wins are more than former Cup champion Joey Logano (9 ), Martin Truex Jr. 8), Kyle Busch (7) and Brad Keselowski (5) have done so in the same period.

Whatever 'it' is that separates great drivers from merely good drivers, Byron has it in abundance. And he will only get better as he gains more experience. His first taste of racing came through iRacing, an online racing simulation, and he didn't start driving real race cars until his teens, unlike most other Cup drivers who started much younger with Legends or go-karts.

“That talent is one thing, but then the racing craftsmanship and the work ethic and all the other things that go with it,” said Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon as he celebrated in victory lane. “How you communicate what a race car actually does, so that your team can make it go faster and how you work together as a team. That's what's remarkable to me. And it's clear that he's unique and special in a way that…'

Before Gordon could finish his thoughts, he was interrupted by the roar of the ongoing Xfinity Series race. Nevertheless, his point was clear: Byron is a unicorn. A generational talent who has risen with every step to meet the expectations set before him, no matter how high the bar is set.

“Everyone said he had a natural talent,” Byron's mother, Dana Byron, said of her son. “He figured it out so quickly (when he first started racing) that after a few months he was beating everyone. Not at first and then he just kept studying and studying and practicing.”

Byron may not have needed a Daytona 500 win to cement his status as NASCAR's next superstar. Last year he already left his mark on the breakthrough 2023 season, which included winning the best six races of the series and taking first place in the top five, top ten and average finishes, as well as second place in the number of laps ahead.

But one great season doesn't define a career or create a legacy. This comes over time, piling one great season after another, filled with gaudy stats like Byron achieved last year. If you do this just once, people tend to throw around the dreaded “F” word (coincidence).

Byron, a student of the sport, understands this reality. He's seen drivers make big profits one year, stumble the next, and never regain their winning mojo. Those around him say this is part of what motivates him. Team owner Rick Hendrick described Byron as someone who had a “chip” going into the 2024 season, and Byron agreed.

“I don't know if I'll ever get that chip off my shoulder,” Byron said. “It's always been there. I'm just very quiet about it. Don't know. There are always reasons to be found. We didn't win the championship (last year when he finished third), and we're not the most talked about, and other people get more publicity, things like that, and I feel like I just – whatever I think , I use as motivation.

“That's how I've always been internally. I don't express that very often. But it definitely burns inside. I feel like this is often the fuel for your offseasons: just what I can find, whatever little edge I can find to be the best. There is still a lot to learn. I can be much more complete in the car, and I feel like your racing skills and things are always evolving, and just trying to be a better version in the car with my team.

Even within the Hendrick organization, Byron is often seen as the “other guy,” something he readily acknowledges – and that provides extra motivation. When your teammates include Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, both former Cup champions who are widely considered among NASCAR's elite, it can be easy to be overlooked.

The only way to change this perception is to win, both races and championships.

“I use it all as fuel, so keep it coming,” Byron said. “All the preseason predictions and stuff.”

But what Byron is, and what Larson and Elliott are not yet, is a Daytona 500 winner. Within Hendrick, only Byron bears this distinction. He also has more wins than Larson and Elliott since the start of last season.

“Today was a big step,” Gordon said. “I think he's on a roll for last year's Championship Four and then the Daytona 500.”

At this point, Byron drove home in front of a national television audience Monday night, emphatically announcing his status as NASCAR's next superstar. Not only has he arrived, it's clear he's not going anywhere anytime soon.

GO DEEPER

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(Top photo: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)