He’s yet to win a NASCAR Cup race at Kansas Speedway. Could this be Byron’s big weekend?

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson might have retired from NASCAR, however the Hendrick Motorsports meeting line retains churning out champions.

Chase Elliott gained the 2020 Cup championship, and he’s simply 26 years previous. Kyle Larson, 29, gained in 2021.

The newest phenom is William Byron.

Byron, 24, already has gained two races this season and was headed for a series-most third win earlier than Joey Logano bumped him from the lead on the penultimate lap at Darlington final week.

Add in Alex Bowman, 28, who like his three 20-something teammates owns not less than one win this season, and Byron has loads of competitors inside his personal race staff, not to mention in opposition to the 36 different drivers on the observe.

“Racing in opposition to your teammates is the place you measure your self,” stated Byron, who ranks second within the factors standings going into Sunday’s Creation Well being 400 at Kansas Speedway. “However there are different guys within the area who’re aggressive. You’ve seen the Joe Gibbs guys are quick, Ross Chastain is quick.

“It’s nearly managing your race. Attempt to be good each single week and figuring out that your teammates are going to be proper there to problem you for wins is an effective factor.”

Byron, who signed a three-year contract extension with Hendrick final week, owns wins at Atlanta and Martinsville within the hallowed No. 24 Chevrolet vacated by three-time Cup champion Gordon. That gave Byron his first multi-win season in 5 years as a Cup driver.

He but to win in eight Cup begins at Kansas, however the observe holds a particular place for Byron.

In 2016, in his fifth profession begin, he gained the vans race at Kansas Speedway shortly earlier than his highschool commencement in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the primary of his seven vans wins that 12 months and kickstarted a profession that ultimately put Byron within the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse.

“I used to be actually younger again then,” he stated. “I used to be so inexperienced and contemporary in NASCAR and in racing on the whole. It was that first breakthrough win, which was nice, however there was a variety of work after that.”

Byron went on to turn out to be the second driver to win Rookie of the 12 months honors in all three of NASCAR’s nationwide sequence — vans (2016), Xfinity (2017) and Cup (2018) — earlier than getting his first Cup win within the No. 24 in July 2020 at Daytona.

Gordon, now a vice chairman for Hendrick Motorsports, helped make the transition to the Cup sequence simpler for Byron.

“I used to be a child in Xfinity that was actually uncooked and didn’t know lots in regards to the world, and Jeff introduced me into the Cup world and stated, ‘Right here’s how issues go,’’’ Byron stated. “That’s been key for me as a result of he’s in all probability been the largest mentor for me when it comes to how do I handle the staff, how do I speak to the fellows, how do I get issues performed relating to contained in the store and the way I work with folks …

‘Hey, I need this on my automobile or I need this within the inside of the automobile.’ He was very vocal about getting all that stuff proper, and people are the main points which can be paying off for me.”

Whereas Byron has certified for the postseason in every of the final three seasons, he has but to be an element within the playoffs, posting finishes of eleventh, 14th and tenth within the ultimate standings. This 12 months, armed with the facility of playoff factors from two wins, and 12 extra races to construct on earlier than the postseason, Byron is extra assured in his possibilities to hitch Larson and Elliott — each former winners at Kansas — as Cup champions for Hendrick.

“I felt like final 12 months left us with a reasonably bitter style as a result of I felt like we had been so near a variety of wins in that second half of the 12 months, and man, it simply felt like good issues would occur and issues would break down proper on the final minute,” stated Byron, who completed ninth and sixth within the two Cup races at Kansas Speedway final 12 months.

“However it was motivation for this 12 months. Granted, it’s a brand new automobile … however I really feel like we’re beginning to be taught what we want. Now I really feel like all of that need and keenness that we had within the low season to show to ourselves that we may win a number of races is there.”