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Daytona 500 champion William Byron's crew chief Rudy Fugle recently shed light on the No. 24 team's strategy during Byron's recent victory at COTA.
While he encountered a dip in form after a glorious start to the 2024 campaign with a Daytona 500 win, Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron found his stride during the NASCAR weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
After securing a pole position in the qualifying session on Saturday, Byron took charge of the race before fending off a strong challenge from Joe Gibbs Racing rival Christopher Bell. Byron edged out Bell by 0.692 seconds to secure his 12th career win in the Cup Series. He led 42 out of the 68 laps from the road course race.
Shortly after the race, Byron's crew chief Rudy Fugle spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, where he discussed the team's strategy behind their success at COTA. He said:
"It was a pretty big discussion through the week for us. I was kind of sitting on our two-stop strategy, sort of like what (Christopher) Bell did and Adam (Stevens) did on this morning."
While they had considered a two-stop strategy, the HMS No. 24 Chevy team ultimately opted for a safer approach of pitting before the stages.
"But pitting before the stages is generally the safe play," continued Fugle. "It generally nets you you know more track position, passing less cars, and then you know either strategy at some point up on older tires. So we went well with a safer spot."
William Byron was "egging on" for three-stop, reveals Rudy Fugle
Despite the team's initial inclination towards a two-stop strategy, Fugle disclosed that William Byron had advocated for a three-stop approach, emphasizing the importance of fresher tires.
"Usually drivers want to want to have fresher tires as much as they can," said Fugle. "So William was was egging on for the three-stop and it worked out for us you know."
Fugle also praised the execution of their plan, highlighting the precision and efficiency demonstrated by the entire team during crucial pit stops. He said:
"The exchange of the fuel cans from behind the walls over the wall, plug in a cannon perfect, just really, really good job for our group."
With 183 points, William Byron is ranked sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings after six races. Having won two races so far, the 26-year-old driver is 37 points behind Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Martin Truex Jr.
