MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Here are the winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, the next-to-last race of the season.
WINNERS
William Byron — In a must-win situation, Byron won the pole, won both stages and led a career-high 304 of 500 laps, including the last 44 to win and claim a spot in the Championship 4 for the third year in a row. “William, I believe, had the race of his career,” Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon said. “I know it wasn’t a Daytona 500, but to me, the way he handled himself, the way he approached it and raced today, it was just unbelievable.”
Byron: ‘Things have a way of working out’
William Byron reacts to his win to cap off the Round of 8 at a Martinsville course that holds a special place in his heart and commends the Hendrick Motorsports team for their resilience all season.
Hendrick Motorsports — Facing the prospect of being shut out of the Championship 4, the organization secured the final two spots with William Byron winning and Kyle Larson claiming the final transfer spot with his fifth-place finish. Although Chase Elliott did not advance, he finished third, giving Hendrick Motorsports three of the top five finishers.
Ryan Blaney — Although Blaney did not advance to the title race, he gave it quite a ride. Blaney rallied from a 31st starting spot to finish second after leading 177 of the 500 laps.
Blaney ‘just got loose’ down Martinsville stretch
Ryan Blaney explains what was happening inside his car as William Byron blew by him at Martinsville, saying that he just got a bit careless and “was fading quick.”
Ross Chastain — His fourth-place finish was his first top-10 finish in the past five races and his first top-five result since his Coca-Cola 600 victory at Charlotte on Memorial Day weekend.
Ryan Preece — His sixth-place result gives him three top 10s in the last four races.
Hendrick Motorsports captured the final half of the Championship 4.
LOSERS
Spire Motorsports — What a rough day for the organization. Three of the race’s 10 cautions involved either current teammates wrecking or future teammates wrecking. Carson Hocevar was involved in all three incidents. He twice had incidents with future teammate Daniel Suarez and one incident with teammate Michael McDowell.
Highlight: NASCAR Cup playoff race at Martinsville
Relive the chaos from Martinsville Speedway as the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 concludes with the Xfinity 500.
Toyota — The manufacturer had three engine failures in Sunday’s race: Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst and Denny Hamlin. There had been only one DNF due to an engine issue in the last six Martinsville races combined before Sunday.
Team Penske — Will be locked out of the championship race for the first time since 2021 and see its streak of three consecutive Cup championships end this season after Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano both failed to advance.
