Fifteen times the fall Martinsville winner won the championship

On 15 occasions in NASCAR's modern era, the winner of the fall Martinsville Speedway race has gone on to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship. Nine drivers have accomplished this feat. Ryan Blaney added his name with victory in the penultimate event at Martinsville and a title-clinching performance at Phoenix Raceway. See who else is in that club.

Richard Petty, 1972

Petty's 1972 victory at Martinsville was his seventh of eight total victories that season. 'The King' went on to win his fourth of seven championships, defending his 1971 title. Petty holds the record for most all-time wins at Martinsville at 15.

Cale Yarborough, 1976

Yarborough won the 1976 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville, paving the way for the first NASCAR premier series championship of his Hall of Fame career.

Cale Yarborough, 1977

Back-to-back fall Martinsville race wins also earned Yarborough a second consecutive championship in 1977, as he swept both events at the Virginia short track that season.

Cale Yarborough, 1978

A third straight victory in Martinsville's fall classic also brought about Yarborough's third consecutive championship season. It was the last of his six career victories at the track, along with his final title with legendary team owner Junior Johnson.

Dale Earnhardt, 1980

Earnhardt earned his fourth of five victories in 1980 in the fall at Martinsville, later going on to win his first of a record-tying seven championships.

Darrell Waltrip, 1981

The second all-time winningest driver at Martinsville scored his fourth of 11 total victories there in the 1981 fall race. He went on to win his first career championship.

Darrell Waltrip, 1982

A second consecutive fall Martinsville race win helped Waltrip defend his title, as he won his second of three career championships.

Jimmie Johnson, 2006

Twenty-four years after Waltrip's win, Johnson earned his second career victory at Martinsville in the fall of 2006, holding off Virginia's own Denny Hamlin. Johnson and the No. 48 team won their first championship a few weeks later.

Jimmie Johnson, 2007

Back-to-back Martinsville fall wins also came with a second straight championship in 2007 -- and the streak wasn't over.

Jimmie Johnson, 2008

Just like what Cale Yarborough achieved from 1976-78, Johnson won a third consecutive fall race at the .526-mile track, holding off nine-time Martinsville winner and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon. Johnson went on to win his third straight title in Homestead.

Tony Stewart, 2011

Stewart earned the last of his three career Martinsville wins in the fall of 2011. In a championship battle that came down to the final lap at Homestead between he and Carl Edwards, Stewart also won his third career title.

Jimmie Johnson, 2016

Johnson tied Jeff Gordon with nine career wins at Martinsville with his fall 2016 victory. The win punched Johnson's ticket into the Championship 4 at Homestead, where he would tie Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with a seventh championship. Since the implementation of an elimination-style playoff format in 2014, Johnson is the only driver to win in the fall at Martinsville, and later the title.

Joey Logano, 2018

Logano crashed the "Big 3" party with his entry into the Championship 4 after a door-slamming finish at Martinsville with Martin Truex Jr. The battle left Truex a little testy and would lead to another battle with the championship on the line in Miami -- a battle Logano would also win to score his first title.

Chase Elliott, 2020

Elliott was facing a win-or-go-home scenario at Martinsville and delivered by leading 236 laps en route to the win. A week later, he would overcome starting in the rear to score the 2020 championship.

Ryan Blaney, 2023

Blaney surged into the Championship 4, leading 145 of the 500 laps at Martinsville to notch his third win of the 2023 campaign. His first Cup Series title came one week later in a runner-up finish at Phoenix, where he secured a second straight championship for Team Penske.