HOMESTEAD, Florida – After years of seeing a handful of drivers (the guys themselves, really) dominate the top NASCAR level almost every week, the Cup Series is experiencing some parity to start the season.
For some it is a welcome show. Others expect it to be a fleeting moment.
William Byron was the third surprise winner in three races this season with his victory Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Byron joined Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell as unlikely winners to begin 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 to Daytona last August and he secured one of the last places in the playoffs.
No one saw her coming. They also had little on the radar.
Byron came into the weekend with a 28-1 shot to win a race that many hoped would return to normal racing series. Instead, McDowell and Bell have company in the relatively odd group of 2021 winners and riders who have closed postseason posts.
“Obviously, a lot of people made good decisions about how to improve,” said Martin Truex Jr., 2017 series champion, who finished third. “The box we have to work on is so small … the rules are the rules, and they haven’t changed in a while. The smaller teams are catching up.”
Truex was quick to point out that he still believes the top teams (heavyweights like him, so to speak) will find their way to the top sooner rather than later.
But the first three races have provided plenty of moments to raise eyebrows. Tyler Reddick was second Sunday, nearly three seconds behind Byron. McDowell took his third straight position in the top ten. Chris Buescher ran in the lead during the first part of the race.
“It has definitely narrowed the gap,” McDowell said.
McDowell and Bell were the first winners to open the season. This rare race has already hardened the playoff race in less than a month in the long NASCAR season. A win gets an automatic robbery and it’s unusual to have several unique winners in a season.
Few could have predicted that this trio would have blown up some of NASCAR’s best teams. Currently, two-time series champion Kyle Busch is below the top 16 finishers, as are Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola, all ranked in the playoffs a year ago.
Byron hardly qualifies as amazing as the previous two because he drives the famous No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports. But he hadn’t been exactly a regular in the victory lane either.
Once again, members of the Hendrick organization felt they might have something important this season since meeting with former crew chief Rudy Fugle.
In only their third start together at the #NASCAR Cup Series, @WilliamByron i @AxaltaRacing crew chief Rudy Fugle has secured his first victory @HomesteadMiami!
The duo won seven times together in the @NASCAR_Trucks Series. pic.twitter.com/xzHb19brta
– Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) March 1, 2021
“This guy has been huge for my career,” Byron said. “He’s the reason I’m here and I’m glad we can get him … We really think the same way.”
They had their best year together while directing the Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2016, they even won at Homestead.
When Byron’s former crew chief, Chad Knaus, moved to Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick hired Fugle and paired him with Byron. It was an uncommon move for Hendrick, who usually asks his crew chiefs from the organization.
Fugle spent eight years at KBM and led the truck program to two driver’s championships and five homeowner titles. His trucks won 28 races, seven with Byron at the wheel.
“He knows how to push my buttons and motivate me,” Byron said. “Obviously, you have to back up with results. The results come when you have people like that to work with.”
Buescher dominated the race early, winning the first stage (the second victory of his career). The Roush Fenway Racing driver drove five times over a total of 57 laps, but began to fade “as sunset approached.” Buescher fell from sixth to 23 after restarting at the start of the final stage.
“It’s a step in the right direction for us,” Buescher said.
Byron took over from here and left some of the most important names playing catch up for the first time in years.
“It’s hard because you can’t do a lot of things right now,” Truex said.