DAYTONA BEACH — Earlier than he geared as much as win one other Daytona 500, William Byron wished to get away — distant, to a spot the place he might mix in and go away behind the grind and storage.
A December journey unaccompanied to Japan offered Byron a reboot, a time for reflection, a lesson in self-sufficiency and an schooling.
“It was actually cool as a result of I went there on my own, and I used to be actually nervous about that,” Byron stated late Sunday after going back-to-back within the Nice American Race. “The primary day and a half was actually loopy, simply being there and making an attempt to determine the place to eat and what to do. However by the top of the journey, I had such a unique perspective on my life and what I need to do again residence and what I might be taught from their tradition.
“It was simply cool to be fully nameless in a unique nation and never know anyone.”
When Byron returned to work a number of of weeks in the past, he was rejuvenated and prepared, as evidenced by Sunday night time’s unbelievable win going from ninth place to Victory Lane on the ultimate lap.
Even so, Byron’s offseason absence was nonetheless a head-scratcher at Hendrick Motorsports.
“I nonetheless don’t imagine that he glided by himself,” joked NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, now the corporate’s vice chairman. “I’m nonetheless making an attempt to get all of the solutions to that.”
No matter Byron did labored to ship Hendrick Motorsports a document tenth Daytona 500 victory, yet another than Petty Enterprises.
“I spoke to him on the telephone, and that’s one of many first issues he stated is: ‘We acquired No. 10,’ ” Gordon stated of Corridor of Fame proprietor Rick Hendrick. “It means lots to him.”
With the race seemingly out of attain because the No. 24 Chevrolet underperformed, Byron stored his head and seized an Eleventh-hour alternative just like his 2024 victory.
“I simply stored getting extra pissed off because the race went on,” he stated. “I wasn’t benefiting from it as a result of my automobile was actually good.”
However throughout a livid two-lap additional time sprint, a crash knocked out chief Denny Hamlin — in place to win his fourth Daytona 500 championship — and 2022 winner Austin Cindric, who led a race-high 59 laps, to clear a path for Byron through the closing stretch of Sunday’s 201-lap, eight-hour, weather-plagued affair delayed greater than 3 1/2 hours.
“Final 12 months that win introduced me to tears,” longtime crew chief Rudy Fugle stated. “After which this win, it introduced me to laughter as a result of I seemed up and we’re on the point of win. It was simply wonderful.”
Two hours after Byron eclipsed Gordon’s mark because the youngest two-time winner of NASCAR’s showcase occasion, the 53-year-old Corridor of Famer was nonetheless flabbergasted.
“I used to be fairly shocked,” Gordon stated. “You get the buildup and anticipation of, ‘Man, I believe we’re in place to win this factor,’ and also you get tense since you need it for them, and also you need it for the group. However at the moment I wasn’t like that in any respect.
“I used to be like, ‘Oh, nicely, darn. I assume we’re not going to get it this 12 months.’ Then right here we’re. It was type of a wild journey.”
Byron’s rise to the highest of his sport has been a wild and unpredictable journey in itself.
Much like his latest tour to Japan, the 27-year-old’s arrival journey to NASCAR was a visit to a overseas land.
Rising up in Charlotte, Byron grew to become eager about stock-car racing as a 6-year-old and have become an iRacing phenom in his teenagers who finally segued into vehicles on the age of 15 — lengthy within the tooth relative to his friends.
“I used to be very a lot an outsider,” he stated.
However Byron’s expertise quickly grew to become evident.
In 2019 at age 21, he received the Daytona 500 pole and in 2020 received the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to earn a spot into the 16-car playoffs.
Byron adopted a six-win 2023 season along with his 2024 Daytona 500 win driving the enduring No. 24 automobile Gordon drove to 3 victories and 93 total within the Cup Collection.
“We speak on a regular basis about how shortly he’s risen by the ranks and received races and championships and continues to do it on the elite stage in Cup,” Gordon marveled.
Fugle, a 40-year-old from western New York, has been there each step of the best way.
“That is our twentieth win collectively,” he stated. “It’s particular simply due to our relationship and our belief in one another and the way we respect one another and develop.”
But Fugle admitted to a little bit of frustration, if not separation nervousness, when Byron set off for the Far East.
“It was robust,” Fugle stated. “I’m used to seeing him somewhat extra.”
However when it mattered most Sunday night time, Byron appeared from the pack as soon as once more.
He quickly bid sayonara to the remainder of the sphere and konnichiwa — Japanese for hey — to historical past as one in every of 5 males to win consecutive Daytona 500s, main Byron to have fun with infield donuts adopted by a leap from his automobile foot into the ready arms of his pit crew.
“It labored out in a lucky means for us,” he stated. “However it’s not all luck to win twice in a row.”
Edgar Thompson may be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com