William Byron straight up beat the field on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in route to his 3rd victory is the so far 8 race season. This should not surprise many as Byron has been showing off how elite he has become over the last three or so years. So I want to pose one question about Byron and his stance at Hendrick Motorsports? Is William Byron the clear #1 at Hendrick?
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56 comments
Which driver do you see as Hendrick’s #1 guy?
Byron
2023-Now WillyB-WilliamByyron (That’s how I say William Byron sometimes)
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson
I will say Byron is showing me something right now. He’s better than I thought he would be. But right now I’m still saying Larson is the man at hendrick. Byron can’t be yet Larson has a championship. Byron does not. You can argue between Byron and Chase who’s #2 right now just based on the last year and a half
Yeah I think Larson is number 1 and Byron is number 2 but its likely by the end of the decade they will be competing for the top spot
Larson will still be #1 by 2032 with Hendrick, no contest. He’s one of only 3 legit champions of the stage racing era (along with MTJ and KFB) Byron just got lucky these past few races. Elliott really needs to get his $#!+ together because the entitled behavior he’s showing is not gonna do him any favors (like what happened at Charlotte last year)
@@S.K.R.E.Inc.Byron would’ve won the 2023 championship in literally every single format except this new one. Championships don’t matter anymore at all
Deciding on who is better based on championships in modern NASCAR is beyond dumb. Just look at Ryan Blaney. Won the championship last year during his worst overall season since joining Penske in 2018 while also barely even making the playoffs during his career best statistical season in 2022.
@swfan4195 facts bro
Gordon needed a heir and Byron was his vision for the #24 car’s future
Funny enough, that’s not true. He wanted Larson to replace him earlier than HMS got him. But he was with Ganassi
@@invudvahYk with how much if a talent Larson is, I can see that
I mean, Byron has the most wins in the Next-gen era so far, but I say him and Larson are tied right now.
Byron has more wins, but Larson has led more laps. A lot of that has to do with Larson’s “checkers or wreckers” last year, which Byron benefitted from a ton last year. Darlington and Texas are the 2 races that I can think of where Larson had the dominant car, and then wrecked and Byron kinda backed into the win
Byron is close but I think if Larson had the consistency last year, I feel he’d be leading the wins in the next gen era considering Larson bottled like 4 races last year that all went into Byron’s lap. Larson is also winning almost just as much as well as leading the points right now. Larson is also the champion out of the 2 so I’d say he still takes it.
Larson by talent alone. He drove crappy cars to wins. He is a legit champion as well (Winston and Chase format confirms his 2021 trophy as valid). Byron’s only up there because of top-notch equipment and dumb luck, which came to play at Martinsville. He just got lucky
@@S.K.R.E.Inc. well I disagree that Byron’s success is all luck and equipment, but I do think a good 5 of his next gen wins were either luck or a result of the next gen car’s issues. Even the video couldn’t help but point out wins like Daytona this year, Atlanta last year, and such. I’d argue both Darlington, and Texas last also somewhat fell into his lap, mostly from Larson screwing up.
@@S.K.R.E.Inc. great point. Just imagine how dominant Larson would be if he had Byron’s luck
@@dumbutt4999 I think Byron makes some of his luck. Larson is more talented but he makes more mistakes. Byron just doesn’t make the mistakes Larson does.
@@ryansickles3804Fully agree. Larson knows how to find speed. Byron knows how to drive flawlessly.
Reminds me of hms in 07. Jeff and jimmie (larson/ willy b) carrying hms, kb (elliott) was the 3rd still winning and mears (bowman) being the underperformer. (Yes different circumstances but still)
Funny thing is that Bowman is really only underperforming when compared to the other 3 because they are so much better than he is in general. He is still top 10 in points (12th in the playoff grid as he has more points than winners Bell and Suarez) and doing really well this season. Not as good as he was last year before his injury, but still doing well.
His injury really crippled him there. Also, the only one who can reach levels of Jeff and Jimmie in 07 is Larson. Elliott if he put his mind to it. Byron is just a lucky dog at this point
@@S.K.R.E.Inc. again, being the best at the end of the race isn’t just being “lucky” lmao
@@jacobevenson8702I’ve said this in a different video, but we shouldn’t dicredit drivers who win simply because they avoid mistakes and DNF’s
The 24 car is back and I am here for it!
I still feel like it should have been retired in 2015 in respect of a legend
@@S.K.R.E.Inc.maybe the font but retiring numbers because someone did very well in it isn’t a good idea cause we could run out of numbers
@@itcpshonestly that’s not a bad idea given the endless amount of fonts and designs out there
@@xavierjuno4572 yeah
@@S.K.R.E.Inc.NASCAR doesn’t retire numbers.
Bowman has been the most underperforming one since mid 2022. I feel there’s a slight chance Mayer drives the 48 next year if Bowman doesn’t improve a bit.
I could be wrong but I think Bowman’s contract ends after 2025 or 26
Woah Bowman’s top10 in points
He had to get a pass for 2022 and 2023 because he dealt with injuries in both seasons
These takes are always so bad.
Mid 2022, so basically you want to take the year he was injured? The year in which he was leading in points until that injury happened?
@@inFenity yes injuries always affect a driver
It derailed Denny Hamlin’s 2013 Season
Dale Jr never put a consistent season together after 2015
Chase Elliott fell off a cliff last year because he broke his legs
Well the performances Elliot Larson and maybe even Elliot are putting up are overshadowing Bowman’s consistency. He’s still 10 th in points
I knew he is good but until I saw your numbers I didn’t know he is that good. Wow
This car fits his style. Big tires, big breaks, low horsepower and easier to drive then the previous cars. It’s not a jab, this just fits what him.
Add more horsepower and small tires it will fit someone else.
Alll these guys are great
That’s what I think. These cars (imo) are too perfect, but that fits him. He’s a very smooth driver. He makes very few mistakes
In a perfect car, you want Byron in it. In a less than perfect car Larson is the guy.
Correlation doesn’t equal causation. Just because that’s the car style that exists for his breakout doesn’t mean it’s his style. If you go back to 2021, he was a single properly black flagged Chase Elliott and debris caution avoided away from winning the Roval to make the round of 8 where he would’ve easily pointed his way into the Final 4 based on his Kansas/Texas/Martinsville performances that year. That’s with the Gen6 car with smaller tires & brakes and more HP. Also if you look at his 1.5 miler performance he only ever had one win with the 550 HP Gen6 package he ran vs. the 2 he’s already gotten with the 670 HP NextGen package.
I sure wish C. Bell or T. Gibbs would heat up like that at JGR…
It’s Gibbs 2nd season….
Bell was in the final 4 last year. Yeah he’s had a rough start this year but is very good on his own.
HMS 400 with zero passing was oh so great of a race
We have our current Next-Gen King right now with Byron.
If you take out some of the awful luck Byron had in 2021 and Larson had in 2023, they both would have been pretty much head to head for both championships. There was at least 4 or 5 races in 2021 that Byron got screwed out on, mainly because his pit crew was awful at the time, and roughly 4 or so that Larson missed out on (more so due to his own actions rather than anything else).
As a Byron fan it’s awesome how far he’s come along but I think it’s better to say that Hendrick has an excellent 1-2 punch in Byron and Larson both capable of winning multiple races a year and championships.
Been following him since he came up from xfinity. His driving style is lowkey underrated and doesn’t get enough credit for how good he is
I mean he was always more consistent in comparison to some of his teammates, so really all he needed was the experience to back it up
To have the success that Byron has had over the last 2.5ish years you need to have luck
You need to have the car, the crew, the crew chief. You also need the talent. Because, even with all of that, it ain’t putting you anywhere unless you have talent.
Byron has everything he needs to be the winningest driver of the decade, and to be a multi-time champ
Honestly another thing that puts him over the other Hendrick drivers is the fact that he’s been more consistent than the rest of them
William Byron is going to be a modern day Jeff Gordon, carrying on the 24’s legacy well. The dude works really hard and is really talented. He’s gonna be a dominating force the next 10 years at least but more likely the next 15-20 years.
As a nascar fan first and a Willy B fan second… i have not been willing to conclude that Byron is the top dog at Hendrick (which at this point, that title is synonymous with ‘top dog in nascar’), but i do appreciate this video and it’s kinda making me reconsider a little. I’ve always thought Larson was the guy, but now knowing that I’m not the only one paying attention to the numbers, it very possibly might be Byron.
Anyone who’s followed him since the truck series isn’t surprised at all at his success in Cup. And as you said, he’s only getting better.