October 28, 2019 | By Lee Spencer

Shades of Jeff Gordon: Byron rises to the challenge of the No. 24 car

As Martin Truex Jr. sailed away to his first win at Martinsville Speedway and a position in the NASCAR's Championship 4, the only thing in his rearview mirror was the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Truex had led just one lap in his first 18 starts at the track. His performance at the half-mile changed dramatically after crew chief Cole Pearn came aboard in 2015 and guided Truex to seven top 10s—including three top-five finishes in his last four starts entering Sunday.

While the laps wound down, Truex’s sole concern was the Chevy closing in from behind—a car that had collected nine grandfather clocks over the past two decades with Jeff Gordon on board, prior to William Byron taking the wheel.

“Well, my original thought was 'Did they put Jeff Gordon back in that car?' because he was so good here,” Truex said. “So I was like, damn, Jeff is giving him tips or something. Jeff was amazing here. So to see the 24 running that good was pretty cool, first off, and he did an amazing job.

“He's really good on restarts, and I felt like every time—even midway through the race when he got to second, there were a lot of times we were in tons of traffic and I kept looking back there and he was just hanging around…At the end, I was just trying to get good restarts and make sure I could get a little bit of a gap."

When the checkered flag flew, the gap between Truex and Byron was .373-seconds. Once Truex took the lead 31 laps into the race, there wasn’t another competitor on the track that could keep up with him, particularly when the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was in clean air. No one was going to catch him.

But Byron, who started 11th, was able to pass cars on Sunday when the more seasoned veterans couldn’t advance unless they resorted to the chrome horn, or a car ahead experienced an issue.

“I knew he was hungry,” Truex added. “I knew he's never won before, so I knew he was probably willing to do just about anything to get a win, and I just tried my best to try to get a little bit of a gap, because I honestly didn't want him anywhere near me with two or three laps to go.

“That's all I was trying to do was just keep a little distance there, and luckily we were able to do that.”

Byron was hungry. After the race, when asked to what extent he would have pushed to win, Byron replied, “Whatever it takes. I wouldn’t race him dirty, but I’m really hungry for my first win, so whatever it takes. But, he ran such a good race, I think he would have been able to drag the brake and do all he could to keep me behind him anyway. So, it was close.”

Still, among racers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Byron wins this year’s award for the Most Improved Driver—hands down. Sure, having seven-time championship crew chief Chad Knaus calling the shots makes a difference. But Byron, 21, had to do the work.

“He’s been great,” Byron said of Knaus. “We’re just now starting to get that extra bit that we need. I wish it could have been a little sooner in the year, but I think we’re really starting to make some progress, and that’s exciting.”

Progress is putting it modestly. In his rookie season, Byron posted four top 10s with a top result of sixth. He led 61 laps and finished 23rd in the standings. This year, the sophomore driver has five poles, five top-fives and 13 top 10s. He has led 225 laps and qualified for the Playoffs.

“Last year was no fun,” Byron said. “This year, we’ve come a long way—me and the team. It’s been a lot of fun.

“For us to make that next step, we have to compete for wins. We’re getting close. We’re running in the top five, so that’s great. We just have to take that next step and I think we’re really close.”

Team owner Rick Hendrick is pleased with how Byron and the No. 24 team has evolved in 2019. Following the race at Martinsville—a track where Hendrick has amassed 24 wins since 1984—he was thoroughly impressed by Byron’s performance.

“That’s unbelievable,” Hendrick said. “For that kid, excuse me, young man to be driving like that here at one of the hardest tracks in NASCAR, I was so proud of him. We were saying, ‘I just want to finish in the top 10.’ But to push like he did and have a chance to win the race against the 19 is pretty awesome.

“I’m super excited about him for the future. He did a hell of a job today. I’m just really proud of him.”

For the first time in his career, Byron posted back-to-back top-fives with his fifth-place run at Kansas Speedway last weekend and his second-place finish at Martinsville on Sunday. He’s had five top 10s in the last eight races.

Unfortunately, it was too little too late to remain in the Playoffs, but with the improvement Byron has made this season, he’s excited for 2020.

“Yeah, it’s bittersweet but we could still win and that would be the completion of our year,” Byron said. “I think it’s unrealistic to think we would have made it to Homestead this year. Even is we didn't crash at Talladega, we could have won (at Martinsville), maybe. But that’s why there’s next year and I’m really very fortunate to be a part of this team.”