AVONDALE, Ariz. — Sunday marks an important day for William Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle.
Their fantasy football teams face off against each other. Second place in their league is at stake.
Of course, the pursuit of the Cup Series championship will be far more important to them as they stand on the grid at Phoenix Raceway.
“I mean, if there is one week that we probably don’t give a hoot about fantasy, it’s this week,” Byron said Thursday.
Byron and Rudy Fugle are one race away from winning their first Cup championship together. If they can achieve that on Sunday (3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock), they will celebrate the latest and greatest moment in a friendship that has grown under the biggest spotlight.
“It’s just a super strong relationship on the friendship side of things,” Fugle told NBC Sports. “We also use that friendship to get what we want in life for success in business life. The fact that we understand each other that well is big.”
Fugle has been Byron’s Cup crew chief since the start of the 2021 Cup season. He took over for Chad Knaus, who was the crew chief in 2019 and ’20. Darian Grubb was Byron’s crew chief in 2018.
Byron produced early in his first season with Fugle. He won the third race of the season at Homestead. That was their only trip to Victory Lane, but Byron ended the season with a career-high 20 top-10 finishes and 12 top fives. He ended the season 10th in points.
Since that first Cup season together, Byron and Fugle have won eight more races together — two last season and six this year. One more win would secure their first championship. It also would mark the first time since 1999 that the No. 24 car has reached Victory Lane seven times.
“It’s just refining the process, getting more experience, getting better,” Fugle said about the success. “Learning from mistakes and having a fast car.”
The relationship dates back further than the 2021 season. Fugle was Byron’s crew chief at Kyle Busch Motorsports during the 2016 Truck season. They celebrated seven wins together but failed to win the championship due to an engine failure in the penultimate race.
The relationship has grown as Byron and Fugle pursued wins and championships together. That doesn’t mean that they solely talk about their day jobs every day of the season. Their friendship goes deeper.
Byron and Fugle have extensive conversations that help them get away from the pressure of the Cup season. Everything is an option as a topic of conversation, especially sports. Fugle said that he prefers to avoid talking about golf. He just doesn’t particularly enjoy it.
“Our favorite sport is football, so we enjoy talking about football and our teams,” Fugle said. “Or fantasy football ... or things like that. We both enjoy short track racing and Super Late Model racing, so we enjoy talking about what’s going on there.”
The chemistry between Byron and Fugle is evident. It’s something Rick Hendrick pointed out ahead of championship weekend when he said that he thinks “there will be a lot of championships” on the team’s horizon.
Of course, chemistry is about more than just working together during the race weekends. Byron and Fugle have to be in sync at all times. They have to know what each other wants at critical times of the race.
Fugle says they have gotten to this point. He and Byron know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They know when to key up on the radio and when to be silent. There are no arguments in the heat of the moment that circulate on social media after each race.
“We work well together because we can, I can be a sounding board to him and he can learn from what I’m saying and try to make the car better,” Byron said.
Byron continues to set career-best marks while working with Fugle. They have brought the No. 24 back to prominence. And possibly to a championship.