William Byron (racing driver)

William Byron

Byron at the 2015 Carneros 200
Born (1997-11-29) November 29, 1997
Charlotte, North Carolina
Achievements 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Champion
Awards 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
5 races run over 2 years
Truck no., team No. 9 (Kyle Busch Motorsports)
2015 position 78th
Best finish 78th (2015)
First race 2015 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
Last race 2016 Toyota Tundra 250 (Kansas)
First win 2016 Toyota Tundra 250 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 2 0
Statistics current as of May 6, 2016.

William Byron (born November 29, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 9 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He won the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship.

Racing career

Byron became interested in racing when he was six years old after seeing a stock car race on television, later attending a race at Martinsville Speedway in 2006. He began racing on the iRacing simulator as a teenager, with over 100 wins and 298 top fives in online competition. In 2012, he and his father explored how Byron could start racing offline - in real cars. He started racing Legends that year at the age of 15, relatively late for modern drivers. That year he won 33 races and became the Legend Car Young Lions Division champion.[1][2][3][4]

For 2014, Byron signed with JR Motorsports late model program, in addition to continuing Legends competition. Byron competed in the No. 9 Liberty University Chevrolet at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina for JRM.[1][2][5] Byron scored a single victory and 11 top-five finishes, finishing second in points to teammate Josh Berry at Hickory.[5]

K&N Pro Series East

Byron was signed to drive in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for 2015 by HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks, with sponsorship from Liberty University.[6] Byron also continued racing late models for JR Motorsports.[1] In his debut K&N East in February at New Smyrna Speedway, Byron finished 7th.[7] Byron won the second race of the season at Greenville-Pickens Speedway after starting second and leading all 152 laps (two laps past the scheduled distance).[1] Byron made his ARCA Racing Series debut at Lucas Oil Raceway in July, driving the No. 55 Liberty University Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports. Byron finished second after leading 120 laps. He scored four K&N East wins en route to winning the series championship.[8]

Camping World Truck Series

On October 29, 2015, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Byron will run a full-time schedule in the team's No. 9 Toyota Tundra in the Camping World Truck Series during the 2016 season.[9] To prepare him for the run, KBM fielded the No. 9 for him in the 2015 Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway.[10][11] Byron started the 2016 season on a low note crashing on the final lap at Daytona to finish 13th, and finishing 32nd at Atlanta after blowing an engine. Later, Byron would get his first top 3, 5, and 10 in the Truck series finishing a strong 3rd at Martinsville, for the running of the Alpha Energy Solutions 250. Byron won his first Truck Series race at Kansas in May, after avoiding Ben Rhodes and Johnny Sauter's crash on the last lap of the race.

Personal life

Byron was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.[7] He currently attends Charlotte Country Day School, while taking online classes through sponsor Liberty University. Byron plans to attend the university after high school.[1][2] His parents, Bill and Dana, and his older sister, Kathryn, are his main sources of inspiration.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Williams, Deb. "From online to on-track competition, Byron quickly finds success". ThatsRacin. The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Press Release (January 17, 2014). "JRM Adds William Byron to Late Model Program for 2014". jrmracing.com. Mooresville, North Carolina: JR Motorsports. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "From Virtual to Victory Lane, William Byron Takes the Jack in the Box Summer Shootout Series by Storm". charlottemotorspeedway.com. Charlotte Motor Speedway. June 19, 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Levine, Steven (April 14, 2015). "Get To Know William Byron". nascar.com. NASCAR Illustrated. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Driver: William Byron". jrmracing.com. JR Motorsports. 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Associated Press (December 11, 2014). "Ganassi and Harry Scott to field 1 Xfinity entry". USA Today. Charlotte, North Carolina. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "William Byron". NASCAR Home Tracks. NASCAR. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  8. ↑ Utter, Jim (October 3, 2015). "William Byron is heading to Trucks after winning K&N East championship: For all practical purposes, William Byron’s racing career is just getting started.". motorsport.com. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Utter, Jim (October 29, 2015). "Kyle Busch Motorsports' 2016 lineup to feature several newcomers". Motorsport.com. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  10. ↑ "ABREU, BYRON TO MAKE TRUCK DEBUTS AT PHOENIX". NASCAR. November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Byron Makes Truck Series Debut for KBM at Phoenix". Kyle Busch Motorsports. November 10, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.

External links

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