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The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro will have a new person guiding him around the tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. William Byron will work with Branden Lines, who most recently served as the spotter for Ryan Preece and the No. 37 team.
FOX Sports reporter Bob Pockrass broke the news on Wednesday, December 15, near the end of the Next Gen test at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He confirmed that Lines will move over to the No. 24 team and replace Tab Boyd, who will join Ricky Stenhouse and the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team.
Lines has considerable experience as a spotter in a national series, as well as in high-profile Late Model races. He guided Preece to four top-10 finishes and one top-five during a 2021 Cup Series season where the No. 37 ran without a charter. He also joined forces with Brandon Brown, who won his first career Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
On March 18, 2018, Lines helped Burton win the 42nd annual Rattler 250 Southern Super Series Super Late Model race. Though Jeff Burton jokingly tried to take credit on Twitter by saying that he was the spotter at the start of the race.
Lines Spent Time in 2019 With the Rookie of the Year
The veteran spotter turned heads on December 4, 2018, by making a major announcement. He revealed that he would head to the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time and work with Richard Childress Racing for the 2019 season.
Lines served as Daniel Hemric‘s spotter for much of the 2019 season, resulting in two top-10 finishes and a top-five at Talladega Superspeedway. Hemric also won the pole for the 2019 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 20. Hemric finished the year 25th in points and locked up Rookie of the Year honors.
While Hemric won a prestigious award, he did not keep his ride. RCR announced in September 2019 that the team would release Hemric from his two-year contract. He headed to the Xfinity Series for the 2020 season while Tyler Reddick replaced him in the No. 8 Chevrolet. Lines headed to JTG Daugherty Racing and joined forces with Preece.
Lines Joins Byron After a Career Season for the No. 24 Team
The move from Preece to Byron is a significant change for Lines. Instead of spotting for a driver with fewer sponsors and funding, he will guide one that drives for a powerhouse organization.
Byron turned in a career season in 2021, his fourth as a full-time Cup Series season. He secured his second career victory during the third week of the season by taking the checkered flag at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He then went on a run that featured a historic number of top-10 finishes.
Byron posted 11 consecutive top-10 finishes in the 2021 season, starting with his win in the Dixie Vodka 400 on February 28 and ending with a fourth-place finish in the Drydene 400 on May 16. This streak was the longest by an active Hendrick Motorsports driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2010 (nine consecutive). Byron also became the youngest driver in NASCAR history to reach a consecutive top-10 finish streak of at least nine races, per Axalta Racing.
Along with his historic streak of top-10 finishes, Byron also more than doubled his number of top-five finishes in a single season by posting 12 in 2021. His previous best was five in the 2019 season.
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