NASCAR: William Byron joins Jeff Gordon with Daytona win
By Asher Fair
A total of 65 drivers have driven the #24 car in NASCAR Cup Series history. Before William Byron’s win, Jeff Gordon had been the only driver to win behind the wheel.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron secured his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, and in doing so, he joined four-time champion Jeff Gordon, whose 93 victories rank third on the all-time wins list, in an exclusive club.
Byron entered the Cup Series in the 2018 season as the replacement for Kasey Kahne behind the wheel of the #5 Chevrolet, but instead of driving the #5 Chevrolet, he was moved to the #24 Chevrolet and has driven it ever since.
Chase Elliott, who had driven the #24 Chevrolet in his first two seasons in the series as a full-time driver in 2016 and 2017, was moved to the #9 Chevrolet, which had not been run within the team.
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A total of 65 drivers have now driven the #24 car throughout Cup Series history, with Gordon being the most successful by far in 797 starts with 325 top five finishes, 475 top 10 finishes, 24,917 laps led, an average finish of 10.4 and 81 pole positions from 1992 to 2015.
In fact, the second most experienced driver behind the wheel of the #24 car is also a Gordon, although there is no relation. Cecil Gordon competed in 373 races from 1970 to 1983 and finished as high as second place at Dover International Speedway in 1975.
But in his 98th career start — one start before Elliott eventually secured his first career victory behind the wheel of the #9 Chevrolet — Byron became just the second driver to take the checkered flag behind the wheel of the famed #24 car in Cup Series history.
Elliott’s numbers behind the wheel of the #24 Chevrolet were actually quite better than Byron’s as they included 22 top five finishes and 38 top 10 finishes in 72 races compared to Byron’s seven top five finishes and 26 top 10 finishes in 98 starts. In fact, Elliott recorded seven runner-up finishes, whereas Byron has only recorded two.
Additionally, Elliott led 918 laps and recorded an average finish of 11.0; Byron has led 391 and has recorded an average finish of 15.1.
But Byron can now say that he and the Hall of Fame Class of 2019 inductee are the only two drivers to ever win behind the wheel of the #24 car.
Even better for Byron is the fact that he did it at a younger age than Gordon. He won Saturday night’s 164-lap overtime-extended race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval in Daytona Beach, Florida at the age of 22 years and nine months (8,309 days).
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Gordon secured his first victory at the age of 22 years, nine months and 25 days (8,334 days) back on Sunday, May 29, 1994 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his 42nd career start.