William Byron continues to add to his 2023 NASCAR racing schedule. Since scoring the win in last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas, Byron added a NASCAR Xfinity Series event at COTA to his schedule with Hendrick Motorsports, and on Thursday Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Byron has joined the organization for three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events in 2023.
According to the announcement from KBM, Byron will make his first NASCAR Truck Series start of the 2023 season in the No. 51 Chevrolet Silverado at the Pinty’s Dirt Race at Bristol. Additionally, Byron will run the May 12th event at Darlington Raceway and the May 20th race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Byron will have sponsorship in the three events from HendrickCars.com.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for us to continue building HendrickCars.com into a national brand through our racing partnerships,” said Greg Gach, president of Charlotte-based Hendrick Automotive Group. “We’re excited about supporting Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, and partnering with Kyle Busch Motorsports and Chevrolet — who each have winning traditions in the Truck Series.”
This pairing is a reunion for Byron and Kyle Busch Motorsports, who paired together for seven NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins during Byron’s rookie season in the series back in 2016.
Byron has plenty of reason to be excited for his starts with KBM.
“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,” Byron said. “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. “
For team owner Kyle Busch, having a driver the caliber of Byron run the No. 51 KBM entry is a big deal for the race team, and for Busch personally, it’s sweet fielding a truck with a tribute paint scheme of one of his fallen friends — Ricky Hendrick.
“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,” Busch said. “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.”
