- Byron and Fugle are in their third year together at Hendrick Motorsports, and they have recorded a season-leading five victories in NASCAR’s Cup Series.
- Their 28 playoff points have them as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs entering Saturday’s regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
- Only Martin Truex Jr., who possesses 20 playoff points, could remove them from that coveted position.
William Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle aren’t strangers to winning.
In 2016 they produced a record-breaking season with seven victories in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series at Kyle Busch Motorsports. That year they led 727 of 3,439 laps completed and recorded three pole positions en route to Byron earning rookie honors and securing the owner championship. An engine failure in his Toyota in the next to last race played a role in him losing the driver’s title that year.
Now Byron and Fugle are in their third year together at Hendrick Motorsports, and they have recorded a season-leading five victories in NASCAR’s Cup Series. Their 28 playoff points have them as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs entering Saturday’s regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway. Only Martin Truex Jr., who possesses 20 playoff points, could remove them from that coveted position.
“When you have a year like they’re having, your goals are much higher and you’re setting yourself up to just get everything that you possibly can out of it,” Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon says.
For the 39-year-old Fugle and the 25-year-old Byron, there’s a bond there that Rick Hendrick recognized as needing to be resumed when Chad Knaus moved from Byron’s crew chief to Hendrick Motorsports vice president of competition. Fugle is a no-nonsense person and that’s the type of crew chief Byron needs.
“I don’t have to worry about him,” Byron says. “He just shoots me straight. He just talks about what we need to do better, and I feel like that works really well for me because I’m honestly similar.”
In 2021, their first year together, their sole victory came in the season’s third race at Homestead. However, they produced a dozen top-five and 20 top-10 finishes and two poles. Last year, they produced two victories, five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes.
This season has been the breakout year for Byron, whose iRacing led to on-track competition during his teenage years. With Byron’s victory at Watkins Glen, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has produced his nine career Cup victories on every style of track that exists in NASCAR’s premier series—superspeedway, short track, intermediate and road course. His victory repertoire shows Daytona, Homestead, Atlanta, Martinsville, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Darlington, and Watkins Glen.
“You’re looking for somebody that’s diverse, somebody that’s aggressive, but also knows how to save the equipment when they need to, somebody that can stay calm in stressful situations,” Gordon says. “You want them well-rounded as far as the tracks that they compete on, but you want them well-rounded as a person, too. You see William’s demeanor. He’s pretty calm and cool off the track, but he’s aggressive on the track. That’s everything you can ask for out of a driver.”
Gordon points to Byron’s tenacity and his approach to every race weekend as instrumental in the team’s success. He wants as much information as the team can give him, Gordon says, including pit road, restart and gear selection, and braking zones.
“It’s about helping to develop our tools and make them better as well as make himself better and the team better,” Gordon says. “You still have to have the other ingredients to go along with it, and I think that’s what’s making them have a standout, breakout type of year.”
Fugle admits the team isn’t afraid to try different strategies and take some gambles and that’s “probably hurt us at times for finishes.” The summer dip in performance the team usually experiences results in better preparation for the playoffs, Fugle says.
“With everything as tight as it has been in the Next Gen, it’s about execution,” Fugle says. “You can’t shoot yourself in the foot. You can’t speed, you can’t go to the back, you can’t spin out and wreck. Those mistakes are harder to overcome, so that’s our focus – execution.”
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