William Byron is only 22 and he's a born optimist _ witness his prediction for his beloved Carolina Panthers this season.
Nevertheless, the NASCAR driver from Charlotte had gotten a little impatient over the past three years.
Byron started racing full-time in the NASCAR Cup series in 2018. Until this past weekend, he hadn't won a single Cup race. If you were counting, he was 0-for-97. All the people deeply invested in Byron _ his family, his race team at Hendrick Motorsports, his sponsors at Liberty University _ had yet to see the ultimate payoff. Seeing the glass as half-full was still possible for Byron, but the water was clouding a little.
Then came Saturday night in Daytona Beach, a race in which Byron performed beautifully in the clutch and advanced to NASCAR's 16-driver playoffs with his first-ever Cup victory.
Said Byron when we spoke Monday: "You kind of want to validate all the people and the things have gotten you to this point. ... Now I feel like we can really get to work and not have that (no Cup victories) stigma kind of attached to me. It's great ... A lot of relief."
Except for the lack of Victory Lane appearances once he got into the major leagues, Byron's story has mostly been storybook. He grew up in Charlotte, once trick-or-treating at future Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson's house. Byron got Johnson to autograph the pillowcase he was using to carry his candy in that night.
