William Byron savors title shot after a masterful Martinsville: ‘I found a way to flip that script’

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- William Byron said his course through the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs could have simply taken one of two forks. One path would have been to dwell on the outcome of the last two weeks and the pair of dissimilar incidents that had carved out a cavernous 36-point deficit for him in the final cutoff round. Entering Sunday's showdown at Martinsville Speedway and faced with near-certain elimination without a win, he took the alternate route. Byron launched into his third consecutive Championship 4 appearance with a clutch fall flourish, prevailing in Sunday's Xfinity 500 with a flash of dominance when he needed it most. Points virtually didn't matter, but he maxed those out anyway with a sterling sweep of the stages from the pole position. That included the lone bonus point for turning the race's fastest lap, which notably came on the 494th of 500 circuits, when he nailed all the Martinsville nuances down the stretch to keep a hard-charging Ryan Blaney out of Victory Lane and cemented the title-eligible field in the Phoenix Raceway finale come Sunday. RELATED: Martinsville results | Championship 4 field set

It was enough to impress Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports' vice chairman and Byron's Hall of Fame-caliber predecessor in the team's No. 24 Chevrolet. Gordon won nine times at Martinsville, including what would be the last of his 93 Cup Series triumphs 10 years ago. Sunday, he soaked in some of those familiar cheers by association, responding post-race when fans called out his name with a fist pump and signaling the car number twice with his fingers -- two, four, two, four.

That famed number is currently in Byron's care, and he's doing more than his share to continue its legacy. "Unbelievable," Gordon said post-race. "I mean, these guys have just been building something special all year long, the last several years, but this year, when you look at the ups and downs that they've been through -- big wins, the Regular Season Championship and yet they've also had some struggles. And I think the way that they've overcome that, come together, the effort, and then to come here and perform like that, I mean, that is the best race I think I've ever seen this 24 car run, and couldn't be better timing than to go next week and go for a championship." Martinsville has been a welcome place for Byron over the years, and his three wins here have all held greater personal significance. His first in 2022 marked a moment of reflection for his family after a recent health scare at the track for his mother, Dana. Byron's second came last year during the zenith of Hendrick Motorsports' 40th anniversary season, with his ruby-red No. 24 Chevy leading a dramatic 1-2-3 sweep for the organization. Sunday, the postseason stakes sweetened the pot. The dire prerace circumstances stemmed from a pair of disruptions the previous two weekends -- an odd pit-cycle crash that erased his points edge at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and then a final-lap spin that landed him in must-win territory after Talladega Superspeedway. [caption id="attachment_493514" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images[/caption] Byron called the emotions from the immediate wake "depressing" and that he was "almost numb to the result" after those two weeks. Heading to Martinsville, he made the choice not to spend much time in that headspace. "We're like, whatever happens, happens," Byron said. "Yeah, I do think from start to finish, it's the best I've ever felt in the race car. That's a damn good feeling. Yeah, I think it's been a lot of work, a lot of heartbreak this year. The (Coca-Cola) 600, different races. You just channel those things, learn from 'em. If you can learn from 'em, they become positives. They become things you lean on in the moment. For some people, they become scars and things you can't get past. For me, I found a way to flip that script either this week or sometime during these playoffs. It went the other way." That feeling wasn't just Byron's. It was shared from veteran crew chief Rudy Fugle and the rest of the No. 24 team, which sprang over the pit wall to celebrate after the checkered flag. Fugle said worrying about what had happened in Vegas and Talladega would have been a fruitless distraction. Instead, he stoked his team's focus to Sunday's opportunity. "It's a great team win, right? It's a testament to everybody," said No. 24 tire carrier Ryan Patton, a multiple Cup Series champion crewmember dating back to his time on the No. 48 team with Jimmie Johnson. "We had cars capable to win the last two weeks, and it just wasn't meant to be, and so everyone dug in and kind of took pride on the fact that the cars are prepared well from everyone back at the shop. ... So to come here and to be able to do this tonight, a lot of momentum into next week. So it takes everybody, right? It takes everybody back at the shop, and then just belief all day long." Byron made good on that belief down the stretch, summoning a late-race surge and a winning pass on Blaney with a smidge of short-track contact with 43 laps to go. Patton called it a "career-defining win," and Byron's performance was among the top four in all performance metrics -- passing, defense, speed and restarts -- from NASCAR Insights analysis. MORE: Blaney's bid ends one spot short | At-track photos: Martinsville But beyond the purely statistical view, Byron's ability to push through in a high-pressure situation stood out. No matter how bleak his Sunday scenario seemed, the 27-year-old ace tuned out any negative chatter and moved another step closer to reaching his season-long goals in his third try at the Phoenix finale. Another career-defining moment is now within reach. "I have a friend of mine that told me this week, he said, 'No moment has ever been too big for you.' As a competitor, you don't really realize that," Byron said. "Like, you only view it in your eyes as every opportunity. You only kind of look at it as missed opportunities, things you could get better at. Yeah, I feel like this week, this weekend, it's just trying to maximize the chance you have in front of you 'cause you never know when the next one's going to come. Even though you think you're going to be there all these times, you never know.

"You want to give everything you can to it. I felt good coming into here that I had given everything. Once you get in between the lines, in between the walls, you're going to give everything. You've just got to go out there and do your thing."