Blaney takes must-win race at Martinsville; Byron also advances

All three led laps late. Blaney led the last one.

The three battled for the lead following a restart with 94 laps remaining. Larson lined up first, Elliott second, and Blaney third, but Blaney had fresher tires, and very obviously the faster car.

Larson had a more than three-second lead, but it dwindled away as the laps ran down. Eventually, he was passed by Elliott with 23 laps to go.

But Elliott had the No. 12 right in his rearview, and eventually Blaney got around the No. 9, who was trapped in lapped traffic, for the front spot with 14 laps remaining. He drove the rest of the way up front and eventually drove to Victory Lane to win the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 and automatically clinch his spot in next week’s championship.

“I didn’t think I had a ton of laps left,” Blaney said of catching Elliott and Larson. “I tried to keep in mind, they’re going to catch the back of the pack and slow down a lot because that happens every run. You slow down, like, three-tenths when you catch dirty air as the leaders. I’ve done that previous runs to this race.

“I didn’t know if I was going to get there. I knew there was a shot. … Long way back we came from. Saving a little bit there and being mindful of rears when I got to traffic allowed me to be a little bit more versatile when I got to those guys.”

Sunday was a bit of déjà vu for Blaney, who also won at Martinsville last fall to clinch a spot in the championship, which he also went on to win.

“Coming into tonight needing to win, I feel like that was definitely more excitement, at least for me, and I think our guys, too,” Blaney said. “Just super proud of everybody. It’s really fortunate that we get to go back and try to win another championship.”

Blaney started the day 14th, and didn’t waste any time picking up spots. He drove into the top 10 and was fifth at the end of the first stage on lap 130.

After picking up two spots on pit road during the stage break caution, about 50 laps later another caution came out and the bulk of the field pitted. Blaney did not, and restarted up front, his first of three times he led.

Other than during green-flag pit-stop cycles in the second half, he stayed in the top five the rest of the night.

Elliott and Larson were also in the top five for much of the final stage. They finished second and third, and both were eliminated from the championship.

Elliott, who started the day second, struggled with handling early, and there was fear he may have suffered damage after getting into the back of Chris Buescher in the final stage.

Needing a Hail Mary, Elliott pitted under green on lap 352. The strategy paid off for a time, and he took a three-second lead with just over 100 laps remaining.

Larson started ninth, and had moved up to fourth at the end of Stage 2. His 71 laps led in the final stage was his only time up front all night.

Christopher Bell came into Sunday’s race 29 points above the cutline for the championship. He was involved in an incident with Corey LaJoie on lap 77, and spent much of the rest of the race a lap down.

By the end of the race, he and William Byron were virtually tied in points. If Byron passed anyone on the track, he would have pulled ahead of Bell in points.

In the middle of turns 3 and 4 on the final lap, Bell hit the wall and rode it around the turn and down the frontstretch. Following the wall ride, he finished 18th.

Byron finished sixth, and the two were tied in points at the end of the race, with just one spot remaining in the Championship 4.

It took NASCAR nearly half an hour to determine which of the two drivers would get the final berth. Officials determined Bell’s ride was illegal, as it was the same move Ross Chastain pulled at Martinsville two years ago. The “Hail Melon,” as it became known, was subsequently banned by the sport that offseason.

Bell told reporters after the race his move was unintentional because he simply got loose and up into the wall.

“I understand that the rule is made to prevent people from riding the wall, but my move was completely different than what Ross’ was,” Bell said after the race. “I got loose getting into the corner and slid right into the fence. … I don’t know what else to say.”

Regardless, NASCAR deemed the move unsafe and penalized Bell.

“There was a lot of dialogue with the drivers that that’s not a move we want drivers to make on the last lap,” NASCAR Sr. Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer told reporters after the race.

“There is language in the rule book, and when you look at it today, he clearly was up against the fence in 3 and 4. … That’s strictly to protect our drivers as well as our fans. That one is pretty straight forward.”

Byron finished the day sixth, and took the final spot in the championship.

Denny Hamlin was the final driver eliminated from the playoffs. It was a rough weekend for the No. 11, which had to start at the rear after a stuck throttle caused Hamlin to crash in practice on Saturday and he was unable to qualify.

The team got the car fixed, and he made it way up through the field on Sunday. He was up to 15th on lap 100, and moved to the front row on lap 85 after he stayed out when the rest of the field pitted.

Hamlin was in third at the end of Stage 2, and rode near the top five for much of the final stage. In a must-win situation to move on to the championship, he finished fifth.

Tyler Reddick, driving for the 23XI team owned by Hamlin, and Joey Logano had already clinched their spots in the championship before Martinsville thanks to wins over the last two weekends. That was good for both, as neither had a particularly good day in Virginia.

Logano started the day 12th and finished 10th.

Reddick was passed by Elliott to go a lap down on lap 49. He fell several laps down in the final stage, and had a brake fire that forced him to retire from the race with 33 to go. He finished 34th.

Logano, Reddick, Blaney, and Byron will each race for the NASCAR Cup Series championship next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. The green flag will wave at 3 p.m.

The highest finishing driver of the four will be crowned the 2024 champion.