Nobody has won as many times in the Coca-Cola 600 than Hendrick Motorsports. Their 11 trips to victory lane trumps everyone. But, they also haven’t won the prestigious race since 2014 though. Can 2020 end a five year drought?

So far, I say yes. The speed is there in all four of their race cars again. While they’ve only won just 1 of the first six races to be run during this crazy 2020 season, you can make a case that they’ve had the fastest race cars in almost every race.

Now, a surprise driver who I think can will them to victory on Sunday night? William Byron. Some people forget that he’s still just 22 years old. Yes, this is his third NASCAR Cup Series season, but he’s maturing more and more on the race track and finding a knack to finish up towards the front.

While 2020 has been a frustrating start of the year for the North Carolina native, its not like he’s had bad cars either. Back in February, he won one of the Duels in Daytona with a great and aggressive end of the race maneuver to get the victory. He was crashed in the Daytona 500 by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after though. In the second race of the season at Vegas, he restarted up front on the final restart but was used as a pin ball on that final green flag sequence and developed a tire rub which saw him fade to a bad result. He finally finished at Fontana and was 15th because of that. A week later he nabbed his first top 10 of the season in Phoenix.

Then, the coronavirus made its unwanted presence known. 70 days went by before he could race again and when he did hop back into the No. 24 Chevrolet, the early season speed remained. He won the first stage of last Sunday’s race at Darlington. Unfortunately, a loose wheel cost him early in the second stage and relegated him to another bad finish. On Wednesday night, he came from the back in a short sprint race to finish 12th.

Now, he returns to Charlotte, the spot that he won the pole at for the ‘600 last year. Byron, turned that pole into a ninth place finish in last year’s race. Can win No. 1 come in his hometown track? Another NASCAR Hall of Famer earned his first career Cup Series victory in the famed No. 24 Chevrolet in the Coca-Cola 600 too. In fact, seven drivers in total have earned their first points paying Cup Series win during this prestigious race. Most are Hall of Famers.

David Pearson won in 1961. Buddy Baker won in 1967. Gordon then triumphed in 1994, followed by Bobby Labonte a year later, Matt Kenseth in 2000, Casey Mears in 2007 and David Reutimann in 2009. Can Byron accomplish that feat on Sunday?

He’s ready and what a time to do it.