With the pressure off as far as the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs go, due to his win at Atlanta Motor Speedway a few weeks ago, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron will go trophy hunting in Thursday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
On Tuesday evening, Spire Motorsports announced Byron as the latest driver of their upstart No. 7 Truck Series team. Much like Alex Bowman’s start for the team at Circuit of the Americas, the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado will carry primary sponsorship from HendrickCars.com.
Byron, 24, is pumped at the chance to bring a grandfather clock home.
“I’m really excited to get in Spire’s truck this week at Martinsville,” said Byron in a team release. “Even though it’s been a couple years since I was in a truck at Martinsville, I had good runs before with a couple top-10 finishes, including a third-place result. I’m excited to see how things have changed since that time. Plus, any more track time at Martinsville is always good since it’s such a rhythm-based track. Bono (Kevin Manion) and the No. 7 truck ran well when they were at COTA and he has done a great job at Martinsville in the past, as well. It should be a fun time.”
In 25-career starts in the NCWTS ranks, Byron has a whopping seven victories, all of which came during his rookie season back in 2016.
In total, the young racer has amassed 14 victories in the NASCAR National Series ranks all at the age that most drivers are still searching for their first victory.
With Bowman behind the wheel at COTA, Spire Motorsports nearly pulled off a win, they’re hoping Byron can pick up where Bowman left off.
“We’re thrilled to have William Byron behind the wheel of our No. 7 truck Thursday night at Martinsville Speedway,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. “Two hundred laps under the lights at a short track like Martinsville is what racers live for. Door-to-door, side-by-side racing is the type of competition our sport was built upon. The on-track product will be second-to-none and emotions are guaranteed to be on full display. Obviously, we’re not racing for points so it’s a lot of fun to put William in the seat, pull out all the stops and see if we can pick up our first Camping World Truck Series win.”
Expect Byron to be in the mix for the win on Thursday night, but even if he fails to capture the grandfather clock, he should gain valuable reps around the half mile oval for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series event.
