William Byron named 2018 Rookie-of-the-Year

AVONDALE, Ariz. — William Byron locked up Rookie of the Year contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Sunday with his ninth-place finish at ISM Raceway.

“Yeah, I mean, we haven’t had very good runs, to be honest, the whole year, but this run we kind of went a completely different direction with what we were doing and it seemed to pay off, and just kind of had a solid weekend other than qualifying,” Byron said.

Through the first 35 races, Byron is ranked 23rd in the championship standings, earning four top-10 finishes.

Byron, the 2017 Xfinity Series champion, beat Bubba Wallace for rookie-of-the-year honors.

The last five ROTY champions were Erik Jones (2017), Chase Elliott (2016), Brett Moffitt (2015), Kyle Larson (2014) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2013).

The final race of year is next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.