HOMESTEAD, Fla. After years of seeing a handful of drivers – basically the same guys – dominate NASCAR’s top tier almost every week, the Cup Series is experiencing a bit of parity to start the season.
For some it is a welcome sight. Others hope it is a fleeting moment.
William Byron was the third surprise winner of three races this season with his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. Byron joined Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell as unlikely winners to kick off this season.
Byron controlled most of the last two stages at Homestead to win for the second time in 111 Cup starts. His first came at Daytona last August and got him one of the last spots in the playoffs.
Nobody saw it coming. Few had these on their radar either.
Byron went into the weekend with a 28-1 shot to win a race that many expected would bring a return to normal for the race series. Instead, McDowell and Bell have joined the relatively strange group of 2021 winners and drivers who have closed post-season places.
“A lot of people have clearly made good decisions to get better,” said 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr., who finished third. “The box we have to work on is so small … the rules are the rules, and they haven’t changed for a while. The smaller teams can catch up.”
Truex was quick to point out that he still believes the top teams – the heavyweights like him, so to speak – will make their way to the top sooner rather than later.
But the first three races created a lot of eyebrow moments. Tyler Reddick finished second Sunday, almost three seconds behind Byron. McDowell had his third consecutive top 10 finish. Chris Buescher led the way for the first part of the race.
“It certainly closed the gap,” McDowell said.
McDowell and Bell were the first time they opened the season. This rare run has tightened the playoff race within a month of NASCAR’s long season. A win results in an automatic berth, and it is unusual to have multiple unique winners in a season.
Few could have predicted that this trio would have put some of NASCAR’s top teams under pressure. Two-time champion Kyle Busch is currently among the top 16 in the standings, as are Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola – all playoff qualifiers a year ago.
Byron barely qualifies as a big shocker like the previous two as he drives the famous No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports. But he wasn’t exactly a regular on the victory track either.
But again, those in the Hendrick organization felt that he was in for something big this season since reuniting with former crew chief Rudy Fugle.
In just their third start together in the #NASCAR Cup series, @WilliamByron and @AxaltaRacing crew chief Rudy Fugle have achieved their first victory @BuienRadarNL
The duo together won seven times in the @NASCAR_Trucks Series. pic.twitter.com/xzHb19brta
– Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) March 1, 2021
“That guy has been huge to my career,” said Byron. “He’s the reason I’m here, and I’m just glad we could get him … We really think the same way.”
They had their best year together running the Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2016, even winning at Homestead.
When former Byron crew chief Chad Knaus switched to Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick hired Fugle and paired him with Byron. It was a rare move for Hendrick, who typically takes care of his team leaders from within the organization.
Fugle spent eight years at KBM, leading the truck program to two drivers’ championships and five owner’s titles. His trucks won 28 races, seven of them with Byron at the wheel.
“He knows how to push my buttons to get me motivated,” Byron said. “Obviously, you have to back it up with results. Results come when you have people like that to work with.”
Buescher dominated the race early on, winning the opening stage (the second stage victory of his career). The Roush Fenway Racing driver ran five times for a total of 57 laps, but he started to fade “as the sunset approached.” Buescher dropped from sixth to 23rd after a restart early in the closing stages.
“It’s a step in the right direction for us,” said Buescher.
Byron took over from there, catching up with some of the biggest names for the first time in years.
“It’s difficult because there’s not much you can do at the moment,” said Truex.