‘Follower of Christ’ William Byron Wins Second Straight Daytona 500
By Movieguide® Contributor
NASCAR driver William Byron won his second straight Daytona 500 in an exciting fashion.
Byron was in ninth place with one lap left in overtime. As he fought his way through the pack, so did the leaders who eventually crashed one another out of the race, leaving Byron in first place.
“It’s not all luck to win twice in a row,” Byron told ESPN after the race.
“It’s obviously really special,” the driver, who declares he’s a “follower of Christ,” added. “It’s an amazing race, and obviously a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving.”
Byron told NASCAR after the race, “Yeah, obviously some good fortune, but just trusted my instincts on the last lap there. I felt like they were getting squirrelly on the bottom, and I was honestly going to go third [top] lane regardless because I was probably sixth coming down the back.
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“Just obviously fortunate that it worked out in our favor. But just really proud of this team,” the NASCAR driver continued. “Worked super hard all week and had an amazing car. Just had a really hard time with the fuel-saving and kind of staying towards the front.”
But more than a winner on the racetrack, Bryon wants to be a “champion for Christ.”
“It’s just [about] not forgetting your purpose,” he told students at his alma mater, Liberty University. “Why do you wake up in the morning? What motivates you to do what you do? How does your faith incorporate into that and what do you use from your faith to motivate you? I knew [racing] was my calling. I knew it was what I wanted to do and then there were a lot of things that lined up for me to do it. Nothing else in my life has had that effect, and I owe a lot of that to God and His purpose for me.”
“I grew up in Sunday School, going to a Presbyterian church almost every Sunday, but really my faith took off when I started racing,” he said later on. “I got out on my own and it was kind of my faith journey. God was always guiding my decisions and whether I was winning or losing races, I always had the grace of God be able to go through experiences and learn from it.”
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