William Byron Aims for Daytona 500 Three-Peat
By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Never before has a driver won the Daytona 500 three times in a row.
William Byron has the chance to become the first driver to accomplish that feat with Sunday’s 68th running of the Great American Race.
The 28-year-old driver of the famed No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet just beat out his Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman in 2024 to score his first win in the 500, which he followed up by an improbable come from behind win a year ago in which he was able to sneak his way through the chaos on the last lap to claim a second straight win at the World Center of Racing.
However, trying to win the biggest race in all of NASCAR for a third straight year will be an even more spectacular feat.
Four other drivers have won at Daytona in back-to-back years only to fall short in the quest for a three-peat, including Richard Petty, Cale Yarbrough, Sterling Marlin, and most recently Denny Hamlin in 2019 and 2020.
For Byron to be able to break the curse that has held the drivers previously in contention for the three-peat, he’ll have to no only survive to the end of what has become a chaotic race, but also find himself on the right side of all the other intangibles that come with racing in the Daytona 500.
Byron noted that he hasn’t given much thought to the possibility of making history on Sunday, even if that has been the predominant question for the two-time and defending 500 winner.
“Obviously that’s the goal,” said Byron. “I think, yeah, I get reminders of the previous races, whether I see just the videos or whatnot. Yeah, it’s great career-defining moments that we’ve had. It’s awesome. It’s special. But I don’t really think ahead too much. I just think about kind of what it’s going to take in these next couple days leading up to it.”
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He added that winning the last two 500’s could also make it tough to find and keep drafting partners when it comes down to the end of the race, with those around him more likely to shuffle him out than help him win yet another Daytona crown jewel.
“I won’t have a lot of friends. I could see it being that way,” said Byron. “Yeah, I think it does depend on how you draft. If you know what you’re doing and you make good decisions, then guys typically work with you.
“I do think coming down to the end, it could be tough for me to have those allies and those friends to make a move. Just got to be smart about it and probably not overthink it too much. Just react to what I feel and what I see.”
Byron continued, noting his surprise that no one has been able to accomplish the trifecta before, especially in previous eras of superspeedway racing that were seemingly easier to dominate than the current era of the Next Gen car.
“It does surprise me in that I feel like there’s been some drafting packages that were honestly easier to win three in a row than this one currently,” said Byron.
“I’m a little surprised that there wasn’t a run by somebody like a Dale Jr. or something. He and his team had a pretty good hold on what it took to be competitive and he made great decisions. It just shows how hard this race is and how much pressure there is.
“It’s not like going to Martinsville and just having it figured out; having a rhythm, leading a bunch of laps and winning. It’s definitely a very circumstantial… split-second race. I think that’s probably what makes it entertaining, too.”
When Hamlin made his run at three in a row in 2021, he looked to be on-track to be the first driver to accomplish it, leading 98 laps on the day only to find himself shuffled out of contention on pit strategy late in the race.
He explained that it will take the right circumstances to be able to pull it off on Sunday, but has no doubts that Byron could be the driver to write his name in the record books with three straight wins in the Daytona 500 if the cards fall his way.
“It’s hard. You’re going to need things to fall your way,” Hamlin said. “In 2021, I legit thought we were going to get the three in a row there. I think we led the most laps that race. Just really fast, but didn’t work out on the last pit sequence.
“And so, I think there’s an element of fortune there that kind of has to fall your way. Last year, obviously, he was fortunate on the very last lap there, but if you put yourself in the top eight, you can get fortunate at times and he finds a way to put himself in the top eight, which is what matters.”
