CREW CHIEF: Rudy Fugle
TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports
POINTS: Sixth in Cup Series
WINS: Two (Atlanta I, Martinsville I)
LAPS LED: 746
TOP 5s: 5
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TOP 10s: 11
QUALIFIED FIRST: Once (Homestead)
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Strong cars in the beginning weeks of the season propelled William Byron to a pair of seasonal wins, and he advanced in the playoffs to the Round of 8.
Both of Byron’s wins came in the first eight races. He led 111 laps and won in the season’s first Atlanta race and led more than half the laps (212) to win three races later at Martinsville.
Byron finished no worse than 16th in the playoff period.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Of the drivers who finished the season in the top 10 in points, Byron had the fewest – five – number of top-five finishes.
Byron was involved in a prolonged disagreement with Denny Hamlin in the Texas playoff race. Hamlin ran Byron high in the second turn, forcing Byron into the outside wall. During a subsequent caution, Byron rammed into Hamlin, shoving him into the infield. NASCAR fined Byron $50,000 and 25 points. A NASCAR appeals panel rescinded the 25-point penalty but doubled Byron’s fine to $100,000.
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Byron had a long stretch of mediocrity during the middle months of the season, scoring only one top-10 finish – a ninth – in a span of 18 races. He failed to lead a lap in four of the last five races of the playoffs and didn’t make the Championship Four.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2023: Byron’s seasonal victory totals haven’t reached the levels many expected in one of the sport’s top cars, but he should be a playoff threat again next season.