MARTINSVILLE, Va. – William Byron will lead Hendrick Motorsports to Phoenix Raceway with a chance to win a championship in the team's 40th anniversary season.
The Charlotte, North Carolina, native scored a sixth-place finish on Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway. Ultimately, the result was good enough to secure Byron his second consecutive Championship 4 appearance.
At the line, it appeared not to be that way. Both Byron and championship hopeful Christopher Bell had tied on points with Bell holding the tiebreaker. However, NASCAR handed the driver of the No. 20 entry a safety violation for using the wall in turn four to gain speed on the final lap. The updated standings pushed Byron into the Championship 4 after the scoring update.
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Chase Elliott brought home the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet in the runner-up spot after leading 129 laps. The team gained track position via strategy in stage three as crew chief Alan Gustafson opted to run longer with the goal of utilizing fresh tires. When a timely caution flag came out, Elliott pitted for fresh rubber and navigated through the field to take the lead from teammate Kyle Larson.
Ultimately, race winner Ryan Blaney passed Elliott on lap 486 and drove away to win at Martinsville.
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For Larson, his title hopes came to an end with a third-place finish on Sunday. Coming down to the wire (and in a must win situation), Larson held the top spot until lap 477 when he was passed by Elliott. Ultimately, the group came up just short of victory lane and missed out on advancing to the final round of the postseason.
While not in the championship fight, Alex Bowman brought home the No. 48 Ally Racing Chevrolet in the 13th spot. This was done while battling a power steering issue for much of the final stage.
NASCAR Martinsville results
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Austin Cindric, No. 2
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11
- William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Austin Dillon, No. 3
- Ross Chastain, No. 1
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6
- Joey Logano, No. 22
- Noah Gragson, No. 10
- Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 16
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Ryan Preece, No. 41
- Chase Briscoe, No. 14
- Josh Berry, No. 4
- Daniel Hemric, No. 31
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23
- Erik Jones, No. 43
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
- Zane Smith, No. 71
- Christopher Bell, No. 20
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99
- Martin Truex Jr., No. 19
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77
- Todd Gilliland, No. 38
- Kaz Grala, No. 15
- Kyle Busch, No. 8
- Justin Haley, No. 7
- Chris Buescher, No. 17
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54
- Michael McDowell, No. 34
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45
- Corey LaJoie, No. 51
- Harrison Burton, No. 21
- Josh Bilicki, No. 66
Who is in the NASCAR Championship 4?
Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Byron will enter Phoenix with an equal chance to win the Cup Series championship.
How many more NASCAR races are there?
Only one race remains in the 2024 Cup Series season. Catch the championship race at Phoenix next Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.