Many drivers have come and gone at the garages of Hendrick Motorsports. But few have achieved the accolades and fame that Dale Earnhardt Jr did. Beginning his stint with Rick Hendrick’s outfit in 2008 as a 34-year-old, he went on to bring back 15 Most Popular Driver awards and the honor of being one of the team’s winningest drivers with 9 victory lane visits. Since the driver’s retirement from full-time racing in 2017, a new generation of drivers and cars have popped on the tracks of NASCAR. And, in 2023, a young 25-year-old student of Liberty University goes past Dale Jr’s record by completing his 10th win with Hendrick Motorsports.

The youngster from Charlotte who got the better of the son of the legendary Dale Earnhardt

The Craftsman Truck Series and the Xfinity Series have long served as climbing ladders to get into the attractive world of NASCAR’s Cup Series. Few manage to get to the top of the game and fewer manage to stay there. One such driver who began his stock car racing dream from even below the rungs of the truck series and has now climbed to the pinnacle is William Byron, the driver of the #24 Camaro at Rick Hendrick’s stable. Currently in his 6th full-time season with the team, Byron has proven the worth of his journey right from the onset of the season. Going into the latest race at Texas with 5 wins in 2023, he added one more carve at the sculpture that he is creating of himself in NASCAR.

In addition to putting him into the round of 8, his P1 finish at Fort Worth also helped him overstep Dale Jr on the book of stats. He now has one point over the legend at HMS and the fact that Dale Jr called his win at Texas, is just icing on the cake for the youngster.

Speaking to the media after his history-making race, he made it clearly known that he wasn’t yet done with writing the destiny of himself and others. Expressing to a reporter that he might only get to celebrate his laurels after Phoenix, he said, “I think we’re inching up on the balance we need in the car and I think we’re just starting to peak.” A Cup Series championship is one feat that eluded Dale Jr throughout his career. But William Byron, his prodigy in ways more than one, could possibly bag that with the momentum he has gained and establish his throne above Dale Jr’s at HMS.

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Can William Byron get his hands on the championship that eluded Dale Jr for 18 long years?

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For the number of trophies that Dale Earnhardt Jr accumulated in his career, it is almost criminal that he did not get to be the Champion of NASCAR even once. His father Dale Earnhardt and his HMS teammate Jimmie Johnson had both done so 7 times. While that did once leave a gap on his resume, Dale Jr has since filled it up by bringing up the best drivers of the sport through his racing team, JR Motorsports. Chase Elliott, one of his products, has already done his part by winning the 2020 Cup Series championship. And now, William Byron, another youngster Dale Jr brought up, stands favorite to fill his heart with pride.

Earlier in the year, in July, Dale Jr had not been a staunch believer of Byron being a championship favorite. While he did acknowledge that the young driver would break into the final 4, his feeling was that Byron wasn’t yet ready to be champion. He’d said on his podcast, “I’m not ready to say William is the favorite. William is certainly in a great position to get to the final four, he is. […] I just ain’t sure he’s there yet. I think Martin’s [Truex Jr] just slightly edging him out. The stats would say otherwise. I know that the stats would say William all day long.”

Since Dale Jr uttered those words, Byron has gone on to add 2 more wins to his list and is still going strong into the race for the championship. If he does end up winning the 2023 NASCAR championship at Phoenix come November, in addition to getting his name next to the legendary heroes of HMS, the surprise that he would give Dale Jr will make him a very happy man!

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