Home Depot Hot Spot:
Interview with Bill Byrne
Every team needs a person who keeps the rest of the group loose and laughing. That role on the Home Depot Racing Team is filled by one Bill Byrne.
Officially listed as a pit support crewman, Byrne does many jobs for Big Orange, both mechanically and in terms of morale.
"I'm a utility man, a mechanic," he said last week. "I work on the engine with Mike Johnson and Jared Eggert, and on Sundays, I help Jerold Shires with the tires."
He's also "team cheerleader," by his own description.
"I like doing that. I'm kind of the team cheerleader, keeping everyone's spirits upÉgroup hugs (laughing). I can do just about everything, or I'd like to think I can."
Byrne is a full-time weekend warrior for the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry driven by rookie Joey Logano, starting on Friday when the team arrives at the track. He's filled that role since 2000, which means he has two championship rings and 30 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories as a member of the team.
A typical Friday at the track for the Grand Rapids, Mich. native starts when the car is unloaded.
"We start by unloading the car and going through technical inspection," Byrne said. "Then I help Jerold with the tires, get them ready for practice and qualifying and get the car ready to practice. I do motor tech, too."
Whatever needs to be done to the engine, Byrne can do, and he works with the engine tuners to make that happen. On race day, he switches roles yet again.
"I do the rear tires, get them ready and set the air pressures for the pit stops," he said. "I pull the air hose on the rear of the car and catch the tires when they take them off. I check the tire pressures before they go over the wall, check them for wear when they come back.
"Jerold says that I get all the glory and he gets all the pain," Byrne said with a laugh. Shires is the tire specialist for the team.
Byrne has a full-time job at home, too.
"I'm the district superintendent of the Kent County Road Commission in Michigan," he said. "I'm also the director of social events," Byrne added with another laugh.
Grand Rapids is a hotbed of stock car racing in Michigan, and Byrne has been involved for a long time on many levels.
"I've been helping out on race teams for a number of years," he said. "People I work with in my day job are involved in racing and I've been friends with [NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion] Johnny Benson for a number of years. I got started through people that I work with."
Back in the day, the American Speed Association was the best proving ground for racers and crew members who had an eye on the Sprint Cup Series, The late model series that raced around the area, most notably at Berlin Raceway, was another excellent training ground.
"I raced on an ASA team with Dave Sensiba," Byrne said. "His father-in-law works with me, and I started helping his guys too."
Byrne's team fielded cars for young Adam Petty as he climbed toward his eventual goal of the Sprint Cup Series. "Adam was on our second team, and LeRoy Throop was our car owner," Byrne remembered. "Lots of guys raced ASA. It was a good starter series, because we did pit stops just like NASCAR did. That got me toward the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup side. I worked two years with Johnny when he was with Bahari Racing and then he went to Roush and I came over to Gibbs."
Since then, he's been a part of the Home Depot team's considerable success. A few moments really stick out, Byrne said.
"The first thing I remember was when Tony [former driver Tony Stewart] won the first Dover race in 2000. That was the first time that I had won a Cup race. The fondest memory would probably be a tie between us winning our championships and Tony winning the Brickyard the first time. Those are kind of even, because we won a championship and then knowing how much it meant to him and Home Depot to win the Brickyard."
Byrne is a utility player for the team, and every group needs one of those to step in and do what's needed on a week-to-week basis. In addition to being an excellent mechanic and tire wrangler, his role is that of the class clown.
It's just another thing he's good at, and it definitely helps the Home Depot Racing team succeed. A well-placed joke is probably worth 10 horsepower on certain days!
