"He had to do the work": William Byron's crew chief credits HMS driver for Martinsville victory despite poor qualifying efforts

The driver of the #24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, William Byron was the driver on the front foot enabling the team to cap off its 40th anniversary weekend at Martinsville Speedway with the best possible result. The young 26-year-old driver led a Top 3 lockout from the Concord, North Carolina-based team, with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliot rounding off P2 and P3.

The 2024 Cook Out 400 saw Byron kick off the weekend with a P18 starting position, much to the #24 crew's disappointment. With teammates Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman all starting in the top 10, Byron had his work cut out for him on Sunday.

After William Byron managed to blitz the field come race day, #24 crew chief Rudy Fugle spoke on how the North Carolina native deserved all the praises for his ability to take the team's efforts and finish the job off on the track. He told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:

"Honestly, I don't know that we, that call was we wanted to pit early, we kind of knew we wanted to pit but it was really him (William Byron) driving afterwards. We came out where we came in and he just, he passed them all."

Fugle further added:

"He took off with the car, the car was handling good at that point and he made it work, so I was super proud of him. He had to do the work, we just got him out there right behind everybody and made it work.

William Byron's teammate Chase Elliott on the #24 driver's ability in traffic during 2024 Martinsville Cup race

The driver of the #9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott looked like a prospective winner of the 2024 Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway during the closing stages of the race.

However, the former Cup Series champion could not keep pace with William Byron who was seen coming through the field to take the lead. Elliott spoke on his teammate's ability to drive in traffic with dirty air and told Bob Pockrass:

"He was super good and credit to him because he passed us all the way to the lead, it's not like he did it on pit road or anything, just flat out drove by us all. I saw him coming."

NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend as the 2024 Cup Series season prepares for the ninth points-paying event of the year.