At the end of the first week of classes for the fall semester, the excitement for a new school year continued when William Byron, a junior business communications student at Liberty, celebrated his first NASCAR Cup Series win on Aug. 29 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway — driving the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
“It was pretty cool to have Liberty on the car this past weekend and even Coach Freeze reached out to me and was excited for us,” Byron said, of Liberty’s Head Football Coach Hugh Freeze. “Those things are really special, and hopefully we can continue to carry that into the playoffs.”
The win sealed his second playoff berth in his three seasons in NASCAR’s most elite level of competition. (As of press time, Byron was at 13th place in points standings in the Cup Series playoffs, following his 21st finish at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 12 and fifth-place finish at Darlington on Sept. 6.)
Maneuvering through two on-track incidents in the final 10 laps at Daytona, Byron took the lead coming to the white flag and ultimately crossed the finish line first in overtime in the regular-season finale.
On campus, students, staff, and alumni shared their reactions.
“I was practically jumping out of my seat the whole time because it’s kind of a breakthrough thing when someone is racing in the Cup Series and gets their first win,” said senior Emily Wildman, who watched the race on television. “It’s really special to see Liberty being represented on a national stage and also to see someone who is not afraid to talk about their faith and especially being a Christian in NASCAR.”
The university has supported Byron as a sponsor since 2014, when he drove late model stock cars, and has been a 12-race primary sponsor since his 2018 Cup Series debut with Hendrick Motorsports. Last fall, Liberty extended the sponsorship for 12 Cup races in 2020 and 2021.
“Liberty University and William Byron pulled me into the sport,” said Andrew Napierkowski (’05, ’16). “As an LU grad, I love it even more that he got the win with the red flames on the car.”
Abby Bowman (’20) met Byron during a freshman meet-and-greet when he was a residential student in 2016 and had interviewed him as a staff member of the Liberty Champion.
“Watching him get the first win at the Cup Series made me ecstatic,” Bowman said after the race. “It was good to be able to put that personality and face to a connection to my school, because now that he’s going to the NASCAR playoffs, the Liberty University car will be even more in the national spotlight, and he will be able to represent Liberty as a Champion for Christ even more.”
Byron is continuing his studies through Liberty’s online programs and is targeting a 2021 graduation.
“I feel like this year has gone by really fast,” he said. “The online schooling has been perfect because of all that is going on in the world. It has been, for a lot of students, really seamless that Liberty has a platform online that makes things really easy with all of the schedules that come up.”
He said he looks forward to continuing his relationship with the university, potentially even after completing his degree.
“I’ve been with Liberty for a long time, and I’ve learned a lot about the school and all the things they have to offer,” he said. “The school itself is growing so much, the football team and all of the things on the athletics side and academics side. It seems like it changes every time that I go up there, with more things being built.”
