Can William Byron make history at the Daytona 500?
William Byron has the opportunity to join rare air if he can win the Daytona 500 Sunday.
Byron is looking to become the first driver since Denny Hamlin to win back-to-back Daytona 500s after leading the final four laps in last year’s race.
If the Hendrick Motorsports driver can accomplish the feat, he would become the fifth driver in the 67-year history of the Daytona 500 to do so. The others to do so were Richard Petty (1973-1974); Cale Yarborough (1983-1984); Sterling Marlin (1994-1995); and Denny Hamlin (2019-2020).
Petty is the all-time Daytona 500 winner with seven victories and seven NASCAR Cup Series championships. Yarborough has won the second-most Daytona 500 events at five and is a three-time champion.
Hamlin is a three-time Daytona 500 champion and 54-time winner in the Cup Series. Marlin is an overall two-time Daytona 500 victor and 10-time Cup Series winner.
MORE: All-time Daytona 500 winners
“I don’t really think about the history,” Byron said when asked about the possibility of winning back-to-back. “There are so many things, so many boxes to check as this week goes.
“Obviously, that’d be a great footnote after the race is over, but right now, there are so many things to get to that point. It’s just thinking about all of my processes to get to the end on Sunday.”
Byron will start his quest for his second Daytona 500 victory in fifth after finishing second in his Duel at Daytona Thursday.
The Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 16 at 1:30 p.m. ET (FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.