William Byron is among the new breed of racers; the younger generation of drivers spend as much time, if not more, on simulators iRacing as they do in an actual car.
Inf fact, Byron had never been behind the wheel of a race car other than his computer until he became a part of NASCAR and drove in the Craftsman Truck Series (formerly the Camping World Truck Series) for Kyle Busch Motorsports before moving on to the Xfinity and later Cup Series.
William Byron will make a return to Kyle Busch Motorsports for three races in the Craftsman Truck Series driving the number 51 truck for the Dirt race at Bristol on April 8, the May 12 race at Darlington Raceway, and new addition to the NASCAR schedule at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 20. It will be the first time that Byron has been in the truck on all three tracks.
Byron earned the Rookie of the Year Award in 2016 driving for KBM and earned the championship for KBM driving the number nine truck.
Byron again won the Rookie of the Year in the Xfinity Series driving for JR Motorsports.
Byron won the Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week after dominating the race and beating out team mate Kyle Larson.
Byron spoke on his making a return to KBM and Truck Series racing saying, “I am so excited to return to racing with KBM. I’m looking forward to getting back in their trucks and hopefully having some fun for these three races. These are three cool race tracks we’re paired up for, and I’m interested in running at them since I haven’t raced there in a truck before.”
KBM owner Kyle Busch added, “having William return to KBM for three races is going to be beneficial for our whole organization as we continue to build our notebook as a Chevrolet team. You expect that he’ll compete for the win each time out, he’ll provide valuable feedback to Brian Pattie and our other crew chiefs and when it comes to the development drivers that we’ve had come through KBM, his race preparation is second to none, so he’ll be a valuable asset as a teammate to the young drivers we have in the building.
“Ricky (Hendrick) was a good friend of mine, so seeing one of my trucks hitting the track with the paint scheme he raced with in the Truck Series is going to be really special. We appreciate Rick (Hendrick) and everyone at HendrickCars.com for stepping up and making this deal possible.” The KBM 51 truck will carry the Ricky Hendrick tribute at Darlington Raceway on May 12.
Also scheduled to make his debut on the dirt at Bristol is late model dirt racer Jonathan Davenport who took home the million dollar prize at Eldora Speedway last year. He is a three time champion in Late Model racing.
Davenport will be making his debut in the Kaulig Racing umber 13 truck in the April 9 race.
Speaking on Davenport joining the team, Kaulig said, “things are about to get DIRTy. We’re thrilled to have Jonathan Davenport behind the wheel of the number 13 NutrienAg Chevy for the Bristol Dirt race!”
Davenport added, “I’m beyond excited and grateful for the opportunity from NutrienAg and Kaulig Racing to be able to fulfill a dream of racing in the NASCAR Cup series. Hope to make my family and fans proud of what we can accomplish on April 9th.”
Kaulig Racing teammate Justin Haley added, “I couldn’t be more excited to have Jonathan as a teammate. I admire his craft and skills, very deserving. He will impress.”