William Byron’s crew chief Rudy Fugle credited Chase Elliott’s No. 9 team’s setup for helping them win the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Byron was dominant in his first 2021 Cup victory, leading a career-high 102 laps in the race. He became the youngest driver to win at Homestead at the age of 23. He is also among the eight drivers to win two Cup races before turning 24. His first Cup victory was in the last season.
Having got his first Cup victory of the season so early, Byron’s crew chief shed some light on the tweaks made to the car.
“William has been fast,” Fugle said. “All the Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports cars were super fast there last year.
“We used the No. 9’s setup, helped tweak it, worked really hard, and came up with a really good setup. William did a really good job wheeling it.”
Byron and Fugle have a relation back from their NASCAR Camping World Truck Series days in 2016. In that season, they won seven of 23 races and the Truck Series owner championship. Now paired together in the Cup Series, Byron has nothing but praise for his crew chief.
“It’s all about people in this sport, and Rudy’s the guy!” Byron said. “We really have good communication, so it just comes down to that. We spend time together. We think the same when it comes to racing and that helps a lot because we just feed off each other.
“It’s a big deal to have somebody like that. I owe it a lot to him, especially for me getting to this point and now winning a Cup race together.”
[Read More: We are going to become a championship team – William Byron’s crew chief Rudy Fugle]