Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced on Thursday that William Byron, the most recent winner in the NASCAR Cup Series and KBM alum, will return to the organization to compete in a three-race schedule behind the wheel of the No. 51 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season. HendrickCars.com, the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group, will be the primary sponsor on Byron’s Silverado when he makes his KBM return April 8 for the Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway and the Ricky Hendrick tribute scheme will also adorn the No. 51 for the races at Darlington Raceway May 12 and North Wilkesboro Speedway May 20. All three races on Byron’s schedule will mark his first starts in the Truck Series at the respective venues.

Byron collected a Truck-Series leading seven victories and 727 laps led driving for KBM in 2016. He earned Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors that season and led the No. 9 team to an owner’s championship with his victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The North Carolina native returned to victory lane in the Truck Series last year leading a race-high 94 laps for Spire Motorsports in the HendrickCars.com Silverado at Martinsville Speedway. Across 26 career starts in NASCAR’s Truck Series, the 25-year-old driver has totaled eight wins, three poles, 821 laps led, 12 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.7.

With his win Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Byron now has five career NASCAR Cup Series victories. In 2022, he tallied a career-high two victories, finished a career-best sixth in the Cup Series championship standings and ranked third in the series with 746 laps led. Across 183 career Cup Series starts he has totaled eight poles, 1650 laps led, 27 top-five and 63 top-10 finishes. Between his time at KBM and graduating to the Cup Series in 2018, Byron captured an Xfinity Series championship and Rookie of the Year Honors for Jr. Motorsports in 2017 after totaling four wins, two poles, 262 laps led, 12 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes.

“I am so excited to return to racing with KBM. I’m looking forward to getting back in their trucks and hopefully having some fun for these three races,” Byron said. “These are three cool race tracks we’re paired up for and I’m interested in running at them since I haven’t raced there in a truck before. “

“Having William return to KBM for three races is going to be beneficial for our whole organization as we continue to build our notebook as a Chevrolet team,” Busch said. “You expect that he’ll compete for the win each time out, he’ll provide valuable feedback to Brian Pattie and our other crew chiefs and when it comes to the development drivers that we’ve had come through KBM, his race preparation is second to none, so he’ll be a valuable asset as a teammate to the young drivers we have in the building.

“Ricky (Hendrick) was a good friend of mine, so seeing one of my trucks hitting the track with the paint scheme he raced with in the Truck Series is going to be really special. We appreciate Rick (Hendrick) and everyone at HendrickCars.com for stepping up and making this deal possible.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for us to continue building HendrickCars.com into a national brand through our racing partnerships,” said Greg Gach, president of Charlotte-based Hendrick Automotive Group. “We’re excited about supporting Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, and partnering with Kyle Busch Motorsports and Chevrolet — who each have winning traditions in the Truck Series.”

A day prior, Byron was named as the driver for Hendrick Motorsports’ foray into the Xfinity Series for four races this season. He’ll drive one of the four races at COTA.

For this truck, we know Kyle Busch has four more starts in it for the 2023 season. He just won in this Truck last weekend in Vegas and will drive it at COTA, Martinsville, Kansas 1 and Pocono. Now Byron fills three more races in this program.

Jack Wood will pilot the entry in at least 10 races as one of his starts was in the season opener at Daytona.

2023 Schedule For No. 51 Truck

Daytona: Jack Wood

Las Vegas: Kyle Busch

Atlanta: Open

COTA: Kyle Busch

Texas: Open

Bristol Dirt: William Byron

Martinsville: Kyle Busch

Kansas 1: Kyle Busch

Darlington: William Byron

North Wilkesboro: William Byron

Charlotte: Open

World Wide Technology Raceway:

Nashville: Open

Mid-Ohio: Open

Pocono: Kyle Busch

Richmond: Open

Playoff Races That No Cup Driver Can Race In

Lucas Oil Raceway Park: Open

Milwaukee: Open

Kansas 2: Open

Bristol: Open

Talladega: Open

Homestead: Open

Phoenix: Open