Coming off his second win of the young 2024 Nascar season, William Byron isn’t looking to change much going into today’s Richmond race. However, one change was made to the driver’s marketing efforts—a new nickname.
“For years some people joked that I was the only driver without a nickname”, Byron said at a press conference at the Richmond Raceway media center yesterday evening. “But from this point on, you can call me William ‘The Quiet Storm’ Byron. Or just William, that’s still ok.”
The change appears to have been put forth by Byron’s public relations manager.
“You can call him ‘The Quiet Storm’ in all your reports this weekend”, said Clayton Townsend, Byron’s PR manager for the past three years. “Feel free to use headlines such as ‘Quiet Storm Swamps Competition’ or ‘Quiet Storm Reigns at Richmond’.”
“They can still call me William, or Byron, if they want”, the driver interjected. “You don’t HAVE to call me exclusively by my nickname—this isn’t Brazilian soccer.”
When asked why “The Quiet Storm” was chosen, Townsend had an evocative response.
“When The Quiet Storm takes to the track, you might not expect him to win. He might not even be starting up front—no offense. But then, with about twenty laps to go, there he is, in the lead, ready to dominate his way to another win. Dominating like a downpour of rain that no one saw coming.”
Byron then added, “plus it seems like some of the races I win aren’t that eventful, I guess.”
While Townsend was handing out “Quiet Storm” branded hats to the assembled media, Byron detailed other names that were thrown around.
“Lord Byron doesn’t really work, because literature puns typically don’t go over well past 1895”, Byron said. “And even though I have Liberty U as a sponsor, calling myself “The Flame” (Liberty’s mascot) might become uncomfortably ironic.”
“Keep an eye on the skies—a Quiet Storm is coming to Richmond tomorrow”, Townsend said, while Byron rolled his eyes.
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