After his second consecutive Daytona 500 win, William Byron decided to mark his achievement in style. The Hendrick Motorsport driver shocked WWE fans by arriving at the Monday Night Raw event on the Feb. 17 episode in his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet alongside WWE superstar AJ Styles.
William Byron and AJ Styles Steal the Spotlight
WWE itself was hyped about the moment, sharing Byron’s arrival on X with the caption:
“Arriving in… STYLE! 🏁 #RawOnNetflix”
Arriving in … STYLE! 🏁#RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/514pOGIKtF
— WWE (@WWE) February 18, 2025
With Raw now streaming live on Netflix, the crossover moment between NASCAR and WWE put Byron in front of a massive global audience. The connection made sense too since the Hendrick Motorsports’ headquarters is in Charlotte, the same city where Monday Night Raw was taking place.
Byron wasn’t just there to watch the action; he was part of it. Styles greeted Byron alongside him before the show began and handed him a special WWE Championship belt while they entered the venue together.
The moment became a unique experience for Byron as it brought together his NASCAR accomplishments alongside the WWE entertainment world. And with Styles involved in a rivalry with Dominik Mysterio and The Judgment Day, some fans speculated whether Byron might even get involved in the action.
While that didn’t happen, the NASCAR star certainly made an impact just by showing up.
A Daytona 500 Victory for the Ages
Byron’s high-profile WWE appearance came less than 24 hours after his dramatic Daytona 500 victory, a win that didn’t seem likely until the very last lap.
The seventh-place position Byron occupied during overtime racing seemed to promise no victory chances at the checkered flag. The unexpected incident began when Cole Custer attempted a move on Denny Hamlin, leading to a multi-car crash that allowed Byron to escape and take the lead position.
Byron admitted that the win caught him by surprise but made much more sense after reviewing the footage.
“I’m in less shock about it now than I was then,” Byron told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “When I got a chance to watch it, it made a lot more sense in my head of kind of what happened.”
Byron explained that his ability to keep his momentum and push forward through the wreck was the key to victory.
“Honestly, I think if I had checked up, I think [Tyler] Reddick would have got to me and probably passed me,” he said. “The fact that we had forward momentum going—it was like a perfect scenario, we were almost clearing the wreck as it was happening.”
Byron’s Star Power Continues To Grow
At just 26 years old, Byron has now won back-to-back Daytona 500s, adding to his growing reputation as one of NASCAR’s brightest stars. His WWE Raw appearance is just another sign of how he is crossing over into mainstream entertainment.
For NASCAR, the exposure on Netflix’s WWE Raw was a huge plus, introducing Byron and the sport to millions of wrestling fans worldwide.
And who knows? With his rising profile, maybe Byron will trade in his fire suit for a WWE ring one day. After all, he’s already got the championship belt to match.
