William Byron found solace in Martinsville again after rough 2026 season

In his post-race interview with NBC on Sunday, William Byron described his 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season as a "frickin' long road."

Byron, who won three races and finished fourth in the standings in 2025, was winless through the first 34 races of the year and on pace for his worst season since 2022. 

His win in Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville doesn't erase the prior 34 races of the campaign, but it does make it slightly easier to stomach and gives the No. 24 a much-needed jolt of momentum going into the offseason.

"It’s the hardest I’ve worked ever in my career," Byron said in his post-race news conference. "It’s the most I’ve been at the shop, most I’ve been in the sim, most meetings we’ve had. Just has never, never stopped. You just kind of wake up every Sunday thinking, 'Man, all right, are we going to get it turned around today or what?'

"Today we just put together a really solid effort. Just didn’t have any mistakes. Pit crew did a really good job. Just a good track for us. We just found a way."

It was a challenging regular season for all of Hendrick Motorsports, and while Kyle Larson turned on the jets in the Chase and is set to clinch his third championship next week at Homestead, 2026 has been a rough go for Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman.

Byron's win and Elliott's runner-up on Sunday proved that HMS isn't just a one-man show at the moment.

"Obviously not the start to our season that we wanted," said Hendrick Motorsports president Jeff Andrews. "I think internally in Hendrick Motorsports there’s a culture. Obviously winning and believing in each other and supporting each other. For us to have ourselves in position obviously to win the race today, Kyle being in position to go to Homestead next week to win a championship... I think if you would have come to us in May or June and had us sign that note, we probably would have signed up for that at that point in time.

"It’s belief in each other. That obviously starts with Mr. Hendrick and the culture that he puts into our company and the belief that he puts into it. He had a meeting with us, gosh, probably 10, 12 weeks ago. He said, 'Hey, guys, believe in yourselves. I believe in you.' Took some pressure off of us, told us to go to work."

Martinsville magic

It makes sense that it was Martinsville where the No. 24 team broke through. Not only is the 'Paperclip' the track that singlehandedly kept Hendrick Motorsports alive back in 1984, but it's a venue the No. 24 team, with Jeff Gordon behind the wheel, found plenty of success at through the years.

That acuity for finding a way around the Virginia half-mile was passed on to Byron, who has four Martinsville wins in five years.

"We got a heck of a race car driver that gets around this place really, really well," said Byron's crew chief, Rudy Fugle. "He’s figured it out lately on what he wants and needs... The fact that we have such a great history at Martinsville, Jeff teaching these guys the important things to get around here. I’m sure Jimmie was part of that too before I got there. All the drivers know what they need. We’ve been able to give it to them."

"I feel like we found another gear here last fall," Byron said. "Really last year I think overall we were just better. I mean, that kind of dates back to 2022. We had a couple weak races in there that we kind of lost our way.

"I think this car has just kind of been a chance for us to reset and be good here. I think anytime you get a lot of those laps up front where you kind of know what you’re looking for, it helps, too."

Byron led 362 of 500 laps on Sunday, far and away his best performance in an otherwise downtrodden season.

It was a glimpse of what the No. 24 team can be at its best and a potential preview of 2027 for a group that will have a thicker notebook and a chip on their shoulder.

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.