MARTINSVILLE, Va — William Byron may appear from the outside to be a calm and collected person, but there is a reason why crew chief Rudy Fugle takes steps late in races to keep him level.
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He knows that far more is going on underneath Byron's helmet, especially in situations when the North Carolina native is trying to hold off the field to score an important win. He's not simply completing laps and focusing on tire management.
"I think he does a really good job; he's also a really good duck," Fugle said on Sunday after Byron's dominant Martinsville Speedway win. "Sits on top of the water, very calm looking. He's kind of busy under there sometimes.
"You want to give him information to make sure he's okay. I think he handles it well. He's grown. He's doing fine. But with a duck, you can't tell if they're chilling or they're working hard."
Now that’s a winner’s shower 🍾 pic.twitter.com/YEaaNr7vHw
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Fugle would certainly know about this part of Byron's personality. He has been a crew chief for the young driver for several years, going back to the 2016 season when they competed in the Craftsman Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
They won seven races together during Byron's age 18 season and then they parted ways until a reunion in 2021. They have remained together ever since at the Cup Series level while operating under the Hendrick Motorsports banner.
Fugle has seen Byron grow, both in age and as a competitor. Fugle has watched him celebrate 16 wins from atop the pit box, and he has seen how he has responded to adversity.
He has certainly see the duck traits surface time and time again. This has been true during a season in which Byron's average finish has fallen to 15.6 and he has largely remained out of championship contention.
"Definitely that's a good analogy for times, for sure," Byron said about Fugle's comment. "I'm a thinker. I'm methodical in a way, but at the same time I kind of know what things I need to focus on.
"You have to be patient in some instances, but also impatient with, like, the situation going on around you."
Fugle and Byron's spotter, Branden Lines, certainly emphasized calmness on Sunday while trying to close out a dominant performance, one in which Byron led a career-high 362 laps.
They continued to provide information about Chase Elliott in second place while discussing his lap times. They repeatedly reminded Byron to just keep looking forward and navigating through traffic.
They saw how the driver of the No. 24 could possibly become frustrated with the slower cars in front of him while focusing too much on Elliott behind him. They time and time again indicated that Elliott didn't have enough time to chase Byron down and fight for the win.
Byron ultimately closed out his first win of the year and the most dominant of his career. He celebrated for the 17th time at NASCAR's top level, and he moved to ninth in the Cup Series standings.
He also snapped a winless streak dating back to Martinsville Speedway in October 2025.
"Whenever you start a season, the first goal is to win a race, the next goal is to win a championship, so on, or make the Playoffs, whatever," Byron said.
"Traditionally it's been good for us because we start hot early, get a win early, kind of take that pressure off. This year was a grind.
"Honestly, we had a few chances to win in the summer, but none like today where things were clicking like they were. That put a little pressure on us, I think, in the third stage just to make sure we didn't do anything wrong."
