It's good to be William Byron.
First, he hooked on to Hendrick Motorsports, replacing Kasey Kahne next season. Then, he was give the iconic No. 24 car. Now, he's landed a sponsor through 2019.
Hendrick announced, through NASCAR.com, that Liberty University will be the primary sponsor of the No. 24. It's not a huge surprise since Liberty has been with Byron since 2014, but it is very welcome news in a landscape in which sponsorship is so hard to come by.
"My experience with Liberty University has been awesome on so many levels," Byron said in the release. "I'm lucky to have them support my driving career, but I've also lived on campus and seen first-hand how they lift up their students. I'm grateful for what they've done for me both professionally and academically, and it's very cool to have them take this next step and continue working with us on the No. 24 team."
It's been a roller coaster few days for Byron.
He Hendrick announced late Tuesday that Byron would drive the No. 24 , which has raced in NASCAR since the 1950s and was made famous by Jeff Gordon, when he won an astounding 93 races during his 23-year career.
Chase Elliott will stay with Hendrick but drive the No. 9. That has some significance since his father, Bill, had38 of his 44 career wins in the No. 9, according to NASCAR.
It's really special for me just because of how much it means to Hendrick Motorsports and the legacy that Jeff Gordon and everybody on that team left behind," NASCAR quoted Byron as saying. "It's a really neat connection for me, something that I will take a lot of pride in running the number and hopefully be able to make my own name with it and be able to keep the legacy alive.
And Elliot said:
It's a huge deal to my family and everyone back home (in Georgia)," he said, "and I hope all of our fans will be pumped to see it back on the race track. There's a legacy attached to that number, and I want to carry it on. I think it's awesome that Hendrick Motorsports and NAPA wanted to do this. It's impossible not to be excited.