28 Days 'Til Daytona - Today's Featured Driver: William Byron

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500.  Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 

 

14^th Place – William Byron – 2247 pts

 

By the Numbers:

 

98^thRace – A recap of William Byron’s 2020 wouldn’t be complete without mentioning his first career win.  Coming in his 98^thCareer Race, William Byron led the field across the finish line, beating teammate Chase Elliott by 0.119 seconds in an overtime finish.  However, some of the excitement over his first career win may have been overshadowed by the sealing of NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson’s fate, as he missed the playoffs by 7 points.

 

24 Laps Led @ Daytona 2 – In a perhaps curious wink from the NASCAR Gods, William Byron (who drives the 24 car for Hendrick Motorsports) led a total of 24 laps over the course of his first victory at the regular season finale.

 

9.67 Average Career Finish @ Pocono – William Byron leads all active drivers in career average finish at Pocono, with a score of 9.67 over 6 career races.  Pocono, was slated to be a guinea pig for the first NASCAR double-header weekend (though COVID-19 took some of that fanfare away).  Byron finished the weekend with a 14^th and a 7^th place finish. 

 

20^thMiles Driven – William Byron drove 93.89% of the 13,520.69 miles that were driven in 2020, good enough for 20^th out of all drivers.  He did manage to finish on the lead lap 25 times out of a possible 36, but a catastrophic start to the season definitely contributed to a lower Miles Driven than might be expected.  Byron finished 40^thplace at the Daytona 500, driving only 58 of the 209 laps.

 

23 Years Old – 2020 was William Byron’s 3^rd full-time year in the NASCAR Cup Series, and as a result, sometimes it’s hard to remember just how young he still is.  Despite 108 career Cup Series races under his belt, Byron is still younger than 2020 Rookies Tyler Reddick and Quin Houff, and is only the 2^nd youngest active driver behind Cole Custer. 

 

William Byron will return to Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, continuing to drive the No. 24 Chevy.  With Jimmie Johnson’s retirement, Hendrick is looking to younger drivers to take up the mantle.  The Hendrick Motorsports team of 4 drivers will have an average age of 25.8 (down from 29.8 in 2020).

 

Coming up in two days – Matt DiBenedetto

 

Follow us on Twitter @StatChat_RR