Ryan Blaney will race to defend his NASCAR Cup Series title.
Blaney, the 2023 champion, won Sunday’s Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Martinsville Speedway.
Some of the sport’s biggest names, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, missed out on the Championship 4 despite leading at Martinsville. Christopher Bell crossed the finish line with a spot in the Championship 4 but was penalized for a safety violation.
William Byron earned the final playoff spot as a result of Bell’s penalty.
The championship race is set for 2 p.m. CT on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. Here are winners and losers from Sunday’s Martinsville NASCAR race.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Recap: Ryan Blaney wins Martinsville NASCAR race, advances to Championship 4 again
RACE RESULTS: Who won NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville? Winner is Ryan Blaney plus full results
Winners
Ryan Blaney
Blaney said he lost sleep after losing last week’s race at Homestead to Tyler Reddick. Blaney responded by leading 31 laps, including the last 13, and muscled his way past Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson to earn a shot at defending his 2023 championship.
William Byron
William Byron held off a pack of drivers in the closing laps to finish sixth. When he crossed the line, it appeared as if Christopher Bell had grabbed the final playoff spot. However, Byron got the final spot after Bell’s safety violation penalty and will race for a championship for the second year in a row.
Team Penske
Team Penske has two drivers in the Championship 4 with Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano winning their way in for the chance to win the organization’s third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship. Logano won at Las Vegas after appearing to be out after Charlotte and Blaney battled last week’s loss and frustration on Sunday to win his way in.
Losers
Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell said he got loose going into turn 3 on the final lap, which it appeared he may have. However, he rode the outside wall through turn 4, similar to Ross Chastain’s “Hail Melon” move in 2022, and was penalized for a safety violation. NASCAR said it would penalize drivers for similar moves after Chastain did it in 2022, and race control followed through and ended Bell’s chance to win a championship in 2024.
Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott dominated the early portion of Sunday’s race, winning the first stage after leading 88 laps. He had a bad pit stop under caution on lap 187 where the right rear tire was not tightened all the way. The jack man had to run back to the right side of the car, ending in a 20-second pit stop. But Elliott fought back to the lead, only for Blaney to steal it back with 13 laps to go.
Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson led 71 laps at Martinsville, but lost the lead to Chase Elliott in the late stages and finished third after getting moved by Blaney within the final 50 laps. Larson had a chance to win at Martinsville and advance to Phoenix for a chance to win his second NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Follow sports writer Austin Chastain on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ or reach him via email at achastain@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Martinsville NASCAR race winners, losers, Ryan Blaney wins, Kyle Larson out
