William Byron: Newfound glory for a childhood favorite? | NASCAR Cup Championship 4

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Once a NASCAR fan in its former glory, William Byron could bring the No. 24 car to newfound glory with the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

A fitting 24 years after the No. 24 car last won the Cup championship, with Jeff Gordon at the helm in 2001, Byron could stir up the wondrous nostalgia of seeing the neon yellow-numbered Chevrolet taking the checkered flag first.

Most of all, it could be relief for fans who poured their hearts into Jeff Gordon’s “Drive for Five” as he worked through multiple playoff formats — to no avail.

Fitting, again, as NASCAR looks to change the playoff format once more.

So many current NASCAR Cup Series drivers grew up with those changes, watching drivers who – in the not too distant past – filled the spots they now occupy.

William Byron is no different.

Byron started his career sim racing and hit the ground the running once he jumped into a real-life car. He dominated the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2016 and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship a year later before jumping up to the NASCAR Cup Series.

While Byron struggled the first few years of his career, he has finished third in the Championship 4 the last two seasons.

This season, he has as many wins as he did in 2024 but more laps led than any other season – thanks to dominant speed early on in the season.

Unfortunately, Byron had troubles harnessing that speed before it faded in the summer – commanding Phoenix in March, Darlington in April, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and Michigan in June but not winning any of them.

After leading 98 of 200 laps and coming close to winning at Michigan International Speedway in June, Byron started to struggle. In the following 17 races, he only scored six top-10 finishes and only led more than five laps in one race – Iowa Speedway where he won after leading 141 of 350 laps.

When the Round of 8 began, Byron was in it to win. He led 55 laps and earned strong stage points before a final roll of the Vegas dice knocked him out of the race. Talladega was no better as he ran inside the top-five coming to the checkered flag – but finished 25th after a spin exiting the tri-oval.

Going into Martinsville, Byron was still in championship contention but only with a win – and win he did. The Martinsville win proved why he is the clutch driver of the 2025 season who has the playoffs and the format on his side.

If you ask some longtime fans of the No. 24 car, they will declare Jeff Gordon as a true seven-time champion if not for the playoffs dealing him a bad hand –while others say drivers race with the same format and must adapt to it.

It’s a Catch-24 in one of the most storied legacies in NASCAR history – but maybe Sunday will be the blackjack that 24 fans have been waiting 24 years for.