MARTINSVILLE, Va. — With a heroic, gloves-off drive on Sunday in the crucible that is Martinsville Speedway, William Byron earned a shot at the NASCAR Cup Series title and simultaneously saved the rest of the Championship 4 field from its worst nightmare.
Byron led three times for 304 laps — a career best for a single race — and beat Ryan Blaney to the finish line by 0.717 seconds after a restart with 11 laps left to win the Xfinity 500 elimination race under most exigent circumstances.
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In a scenario under which both Byron and Blaney needed a victory to advance to the Nov. 2 Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), Byron passed Blaney on Lap 456 during a long green-flag run and held the top spot for the final 44 laps.
“Pass” doesn‘t do Byron‘s move on Lap 456 justice. By then, Blaney‘s No.12 Team Penske Ford had begun to fade. Byron charged into Turn 1 to the inside of Blaney‘s Mustang and knocked it up the track.
Byron rushed past, and Blaney never found an opportunity to return the favor. Hence, for the first time since the Next Gen race car was introduced into the Cup Series in 2022, Team Penske, the organization that won the last three championships, won‘t have a driver in the Championship 4 — and the rest of the field can sleep more soundly.
“Damn, I‘ve got a lot to say,” Byron said with a broad smile. “Things have a way of working out. God really tests your resilience a lot of times. We‘ve been tested. Just unbelievable.
“I‘m out of breath. Thank you, fans, for coming out. Badass crowd. I watched my first NASCAR race up there just before the start/finish line. Man, I am just so thankful, excited to see my family, just celebrate this one.
“We obviously go to Phoenix. Just go try to kick ass there.”
Blaney, who went to Victory Lane to congratulate the race winner, had no issue with Byron‘s winning move.
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“Yeah, I look back on that long run before the last yellow where William got by me,” said Blaney, who qualified 31st and methodically worked his way through the field. “I just got loose, trying to work through that. My rear drive was fading quick. I tried to manage a lot in the beginning. Yeah, just was starting to fade.
“I was trying to protect. I mean, that‘s just two guys going for it. I don‘t blame him for taking that. I had kind of lost momentum. I would have done the same thing, to be honest with you. I knew it was going to be tight. I tried to crowd as much as I could.”
Byron‘s victory in a must-win situation knocked seventh-place finisher Christopher Bell out of the championship race. Bell came to Martinsville 37 points above the elimination line and one point ahead of Kyle Larson, but Larson, who finished fifth, outscored Bell on Sunday and claimed the final Championship 4 berth by seven points.
Also eliminated were third-place finisher Chase Elliott and reigning series champion Joey Logano, who ran eighth.
Larson and Byron will represent Hendrick Motorsports against Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe in the season finale. Hamlin and Briscoe already had qualified for the title race with victories in the Round of 8, but both experienced apparent engine failures at Martinsville.
MORE: Briscoe, Hamlin suffer apparent engine issues
“We had good enough track position all day,” said Larson, who ran a problem-free race. “We were kind of out of the mess, I guess. Yeah, that was good. My HendrickCars.com Chevy was fast. Our pit crew was on it all night.
“What a performance by William. That‘s awesome. I think when the 12 (Blaney) gained control of the race, it was going to be really hard for anybody to beat him. William did a great job on the restarts, just kept positioning himself. Was good enough to get by him on that long run.”
Byron dominated Stage 1 from the pole, leading 126 of the 130 laps. He surrendered the top spot only once, under caution on Lap 30 after a tangle in Turn 2 when Michael McDowell got the lead on an ill-fated two-tire call.
Byron charged past McDowell moments after the subsequent Lap 36 restart and led the remaining 95 laps of the stage. After the break, he was first off pit road under caution and still at the point when Stage 2 went green on Lap 141.
The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet led all 130 laps in Stage 2, but a caution on Lap 242 changed the tenor of the race. Blaney was one of seven lead-lap drivers who pitted on Lap 245, and after Byron came to pit road during the stage break, Blaney lined up second beside Tyler Reddick for a restart on Lap 272.
Blaney soon had the lead and control of the race — and maintained it until Byron made the winning pass on Lap 457.
The final restart after Carson Hocevar‘s third spin of the afternoon was academic. Byron pulled away and wasn‘t challenged over the final 11 laps. Even Blaney was impressed.
“Thought I got a good restart, the last one,” said Blaney, who led 177 laps. “Kind of entered up top, tried to carry speed and he just motored right around me on the bottom. Pretty impressive.
“Just proud of the effort,” added Blaney, who had won the previous two fall playoff races at Martinsville. “A shame we‘re not going to Phoenix as part of the Championship 4. We‘ll be doing the best we can to finish the year out strong. But I‘m just proud of the 12 guys. They have gave 100 percent of what they had. That‘s all you can ask for.
“Wasn‘t quite enough tonight. We‘ll just move on.”
Non-playoff drivers Ross Chastain and Ryan Preece ran fourth and sixth, respectively. Todd Gilliland and Josh Berry were ninth and 10th.
Note: Inspection in the Cup Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Byron as the winner and making the Championship 4 field official. No cars will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further evaluation.
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