William Byron was fat and away the best driver year round in the NASCAR Cup Series 2023 season. He led the series in wins, top 10s, a average finish, and overall points earned. Yet with the NASCAR Playoffs being the system used, one less than perfect race would relegate him to a 3rd place points finish on the season. So today we are going to look back at the story of his season, Missing Rings: William Byron 2023.
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Starts: 36
Wins: 6
Top 5s: 15
Top 10s: 21
Poles: 4
Laps Led: 1016
Standings: 3rd
Average Finish: 11.0
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Thumbnail Credits:
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Outro Song:
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Songs:
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42 comments
How many championships do you think William Byron will get in his NASCAR Cup Series career?
1-2
5
1
2 minimum
3
byron may have a missing ring to the title… but definitely isn’t missing the ring to blaney’s sister’s heart…
Huh? What’s the scoop on this
@CPTTANKER JOEWilly B is putting his willy on Ryan B’s sister
@The Holidaylmao
Blaney beat your favorite driver
We have been waiting a while for William to finally break out and emerge as a star. He finally did it. He will be a top competitor next year for the title
He alr was this year
I’m not a fan of HMS however, I do like the kid
Still can’t compare to Jeff Gordon, though. Guy was a rainbow-colored monster that worked wonders in a kid’s body (he was only 24 [badumtss] when he won his 1st championship)
If we were still under the Winston format, Hendrick would have won 3 championships in a row with 3 different drivers. Nearly had 3 in 4 years under this format with Byron this year.
First time since 1995-1998 that a team won 3 straight championships under the full season points. Ironically it’s Hendrick the last time it happened.
Hendrick was just a different beast back then. Now the only one with an actual chance is Larson, Byron just got lucky
@S.KullRandomLarson is more talented like Gordon was. Byron is gonna be more like Jimmie when it’s all said and done
@S.KullRandom Don’t write off Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman so soon. Chase Elliott not only captured an actual championship, but he would’ve been the 2022 champion, and Alex Bowman led the points early this year before the penalty and injury. If they both get their rhythm back in 2024, Hendrick Motorsports will have 4 powerhouse teams.
@S.KullRandomhow can you get lucky with 6 wins, over 1000 laps led and have an average finish of 10.9?
Obviously, it’s a frustrating situation, winning more races and in the most important one the pace doesn’t appear, but he has a long career and will certainly honor the number 24
But he just ain’t the number 24. The number 24 is retired from racing and manages HMS nowadays
Shoutout to Willian Byron. This year he proved he’s going to be elite for years to come. Even coming from a Larson fan, this was his title.
Comparing the Championship Four.
Blaney: In 36 Starts – 3 Wins, 8 Top 5s, 18 Top 10s, 0 Poles, Led 562 of 9060 Laps, 29 Lead Lap Finishes, 3 DNFs, An Average Start of 12.7, and An Average Finish of 14.1
Larson: In 36 Starts – 4 Wins, 15 Top 5s, 18 Top 10s, 2 Poles, Led 1127 of 8940 Laps, 25 Lead Lap Finishes, 8 DNFs, An Average Start of 10.4, and An Average Finish of 14.6
Byron: In 36 Starts – 6 Wins, 15 Top 5s, 21 Top 10s, 4 Poles, Led 1016 of 9064 Laps, 30 Lead Lap Finishes, 3 DNFs, An Average Start of 10.9, and An Average Finish of 11.0
Bell: In 36 Starts – 2 Wins, 10 Top 5s, 19 Top 10s, 6 Poles, Led 599 of 8868 Laps, 29 Lead Lap Finishes, 4 DNFs, An Average Start of 9.6, and An Average Finish of 12.9
Wins – Byron
Top 5s – Tie (Larson and Byron)
Top 10s – Byron
Poles – Bell
Laps Led – Larson
Lead Lap Finishes – Byron
Least DNFs – Tie (Byron and Blaney)
Average Start – Bell
Average Finish – Byron
Total:
Blaney – 1
Larson – 2
Byron – 6
Bell – 2
Conclusion – Byron was the Best (Statistically), but Blaney’s Speed and Consistency came in the Playoffs, which provided enough momentum towards Team Penske getting Back-to-Back Championships.
At least Byron is the champion in the non-chase standings, so there’s that
Yeah, we can blame Matt Kenseth for everything the past 20 years have been in terms of championships (though Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, and Martin Truex Jr would have won anyway in said years they won)
Going from clearly forgotten and hastily tacked on “won’t make the playoffs” pick in your 2023 playoff prediction video this year to getting a Missing Rings video is pretty, pretty good
He’s a closet Byron hater trying to cover up his preseason hate
I don’t hate that he missed it this year. I’m indifferent about HMS overall, but I see a fair amount of potential in Byron. He had a breakout year. I don’t think anyone can argue against that. Even if some of his wins were more about circumstance than skill, 6 is a pretty impressive number no matter how you slice it. But without that ring, I suspect he’s going to come back next year with a chip on his shoulder. No matter who you pull for, at the end of the day, I think we can all agree that the sport needs more young drivers with fire in their bellies. The sport needs superstars, and that’s how you get them.
Exactly
Well said, from a Byron fan.
Byron had a good car at Phoenix but Blaney had a better one, but Byron was the best driver all season
This hurts as a Byron fan what a year he had tho and I’m so happy for Blaney
Same but deep down ik Blaney didnt deserve it
It doesn’t matter if you’re the best driver all season cause for what will be a decade now in this format, if you don’t show up at Phoenix with the pace or a near perfect race, you’re not winning the championship. I don’t blame Blaney cause it’s not his fault Byron didn’t win the title, it’s the format’s fault. Penske brought their best when it mattered most and Hendrick didn’t. I’m happy Ryan was able to do it. At least Byron would have been the champion under the non-Chase format and I know he’ll be back in the championship 4 for more chances to bring the Hendrick 24 another or perhaps several more Cup titles
If I remember correctly, Chase Elliot started in the #24, but didn’t win his title until switching to the #9
I feel like in the past, the driver that won the championship always had a career year that season. Blaney had a good but not great season and he walks away with the cup, 2023 was Byron’s career year, he wins in every single stat. Such a shame, but he is still young, plenty of time to get it done.
I was always a big Gordon fan, now a Byron fan. This year was incredible. I decided to support Byron when he was announced to drive the 24. Watching him win the Xfinity championship showed me his talent and potential. Since 2018 it’s been super hard to support him given the struggles along the way, but this year he finally had a team around him and showed up. He deserved the championship, but modern day Nascar doesn’t reward championships to the best driver/team. I’m just hoping he gets to win tons of races regardless of championships because those don’t mean much frankly.
He couldn’t close the deal – Nobody to blame but him
As a long time Jeff Gordon fan my little kid in me wanted to actually see him win a championship in the 24 because I was born right after Jeff Gordon’s last championship.
Im a proud William Byron fan!! He’ll be back in 2024!!