Rick Hendrick Wants William Byron to Feel Pressured Despite Winning the Daytona 500

The aftermath of a chaotic Daytona 500 saw William Byron emerge as the shining victor. Before ‘The Big One’ struck yet again, drivers were locked in a heated battle for the lead. The front position was shuffled around 41 times among 20 drivers. But William Byron managed to snag the 2024 Harley J. Earl trophy, breaking a decade-long winless slumber for Rick Hendrick. However, Hendrick stayed true to his racing ideals, and the trophy did not sway him too much. He expects more from the #24 Camaro driver in the coming races.

Hendrick expects great things from William Byron

The famous quote from Spiderman- ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ comes to mind here. While winning the Daytona 500 is a ticket to the NASCAR history books, Byron is already feeling the pressure to live up to his achievement in subsequent races.

Rick Hendrick recently opened up that Byron should continue having a “chip on his shoulder,” this year. As reported by Fox journalist Bob Pockrass, he said, “Absolutely. He won more races than anyone last year, and I think this guy right here helps him with the chip, Rudy.”

Hendrick acknowledged Byron’s talents. “I like the way he’s approaching this year. He’s done a lot in the short time he’s been in the sport. So winning a Daytona 500 now, that’s something that he’ll always carry with him. It’s exciting to see and think about the future with him and Rudy together because he’s just done an awesome job, everywhere.”

This year’s Daytona 500 win marks William Byron’s 11th career win. Last year he impressed fans with an impressive Cup win streak of 6. For instance, he snagged the title in the Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in September. That win marked the 300th milestone victory for Hendrick Motorports. That harkened back to the first-ever Hendrick win in 1984 when Rick claimed his first Cup title with Geoffrey Bodine.

Rudy Fugle had given valuable insight about Byron’s wheel skills last year at Texas. “Had to work our way forward and had to pass a lot of cars and finally found ourselves in the right spot at the end, and once William sees a sniff of the lead, there’s a good chance he’s going to do well. Just really proud of him and the whole team.”

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Byron winning this year’s Daytona may have surprised many. But Rick Hendrick was convinced about his potential from the get-go.

Byron’s victory is no shocker for close ones

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Granted, the Daytona 500 has hauled up unsuspecting winners in past years. The 2.5-mile superspeedway is like an asphalt beast with tight quarters in sharp turns. Last year Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored his first win in seven years. 2022 Daytona winner Austin Cindric earned his only Cup Series win so far. In comparison, Byron has a long list of achievements, including 2018 Cup Series Rookie of The Year and the 2017 Xfinity Series championship before that.

Rick Hendrick elaborated on how his team already knew Byron might just emerge as the king of Daytona. “What we know about this race is that we don’t know what is going to happen…There are always a lot of surprises in this race and at this place. Mostly bad ones. But no one should be surprised that William Byron is a Daytona 500 champion.”

“I’m just a kid from racing on computers and winning the Daytona 500,” said the 26-year-old Byron, who picked up his second victory at Daytona, the first coming in the 2020 summer race. Now it will be interesting to see where Byron goes from here. Will he make himself and Hendrick Motorsports proud? Or will he succumb to pressure?

Read More: William Byron Ends Rick Hendrick’s Daytona 500 Championship Drought With a Perfect Tribute on HMS’ 40th Anniversary