William Byron waited a year for this one. For the first time since last fall’s Martinsville Speedway race, the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is back in Victory Lane, earning a dominant win in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 Chase presented by Mobil 1 race.
Byron led a whopping 362 laps and swept the stages for his 17th career Cup Series win. It’s his fourth victory at the storied 0.526-mile short track.
RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos: Martinsville
Kyle Larson finished ninth and owns a 67-point lead over Christopher Bell, with Denny Hamlin minus-70 with one race remaining in the 2026 season.
Chase Elliott finished second, followed by Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry and Shane van Gisbergen. Denny Hamlin finished sixth, with Austin Dillon seventh, Bubba Wallace eighth and Bell in 10th.
Other Chase drivers finished as follows: Tyler Reddick in 12th, Chase Briscoe 14th, Joey Logano 18th, Carson Hocevar 21st, Ryan Preece 23rd, Chris Buescher 24th, Daniel Suàrez 28th, Ryan Blaney 35th and Austin Cindric 36th.
SHOP: Winner’s gear
Byron launched back into the lead at the start of the final stage — but a Cody Ware spin moments after the restart bunched the field back up for another refire. And again, he held serve.
The pit cycle started on Lap 336 with Reddick coming down first, then Hamlin and Larson pitting together two laps later. Byron pitted from the lead on Lap 343, taking four tires and fuel — shortly after teammate Elliott did moments earlier.
Byron exited pit road in front of the No. 9 Chevrolet, and he cycled back to the lead on Lap 354 once Briscoe made his service.
Logano had to make a second pit stop to tighten a loose wheel, pushing the No. 22 Team Penske Ford a lap down. He won three short-track races earlier this season and finished inside the top 10 in the previous 14 Martinsville races.
Byron continued controlling the race, extending his margin to 4.5 seconds over Elliott leading into the final green-flag pit cycle. Bell came down with 85 laps to go, triggering teammate Hamlin to follow. Byron pitted with 79 laps to go, just one lap after Elliott made his stop, and cycled back to the lead four circuits later.
During Logano’s stop, which came several laps later, a wedge wrench got stuck in his No. 22 Ford, forcing him to back up into his pit stall to remove the device.
Byron led by over five seconds after his stop. But with just 30 laps to go, Elliott shaved his deficit down to just one second.
But that’s as close as the 2020 Cup Series champion got as Byron won by 2.049 seconds.
Larson, Bell and Hamlin are the only drivers eligible to clinch the Bill France Cup next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Stage 2 recap: William Byron sweeps the stages
William Byron won Stage 2 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Chase race at Martinsville Speedway, leading every green-flag lap.
Chase Elliott finished second, followed by Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain and Joey Logano. Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry, Todd Gilliland, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell rounded out the top 10.
MORE: Stage 2 results | Watch Byron sweep the stages
After winning Stage 1, Byron took four tires and fuel under yellow, refired to the lead on the restart and set sail.
The pit cycle began on Lap 191 with Denny Hamlin pitting from 13th and Chase Briscoe following suit. Bell pitted on Lap 199, just as the first caution for incident of the afternoon occurred. Carson Hocevar went for a spin exiting Turn 4, sliding up the track as Byron passed him to put him a lap down.
But Bell was too fast on pit road, pushing him to the tail end of the field for the next restart. He did, however, remain on the lead lap.
The rest of the drivers who hadn’t pitted in Stage 2, including leader Byron, came down for Goodyear tires and fuel during the yellow. Those who had already pitted took the wave around to return to the lead lap.
The race restarted on Lap 206 with Byron back in the lead and teammate Elliott behind him.
On Lap 215, Joey Logano contacted Bell entering Turn 1, which shot the No. 20 Toyota into teammate Hamlin, sending both cars around. The two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers entered Sunday’s race second and third in points, and while neither suffered major damage, the yellow came while Kyle Larson was in the free-pass position.
RELATED: Read about Bell, Hamlin incident
Kyle Larson did make a second pit stop under caution to tighten a potentially loose wheel, but it didn’t cause any penalty.
Also during the yellow, Austin Cindric came down pit road for repairs to the front end of his No. 2 Team Penske Ford. On the previous restart, Hocevar brake-checked Cindric, causing major damage. He ultimately went to the garage for more extensive repairs.
The race returned to green on Lap 222, and three laps later, Ryan Preece spun and lost a right-rear wheel. He was running inside the top five and led 41 laps earlier in the event.
With eight laps to go in the stage, Ryan Blaney and Berry made contact battling inside the top 10, resulting in heavy front-end damage for the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Blaney spun in the next corner, causing a caution that ended Stage 2 prematurely with Byron out in front – earning a dominant stage victory.
Stage 1 recap: William Byron wins opening stage
William Byron won Stage 1 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Chase race at Martinsville Speedway, leading the last six laps.
Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell and Josh Berry completed the top five. Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10 and points earners.
MORE: Stage 1 results | Watch Byron clinch Stage 1 win
Hamlin led the first two laps from the pole, but he missed a shift on Lap 3 entering Turn 3, letting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Gibbs wrap the bottom and take the lead. Gibbs led the next 43 circuits in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but as the leaders hit lapped traffic, Hamlin snatched the top spot back on Lap 45 with a pass in Turns 1 and 2. Ryan Preece seized the second spot from Gibbs soon after.
Green-flag pit stops began on Lap 62 with Bell coming in for service from 11th. Ryan Blaney pitted on Lap 65, with fellow Chase drivers Elliott, Reddick, Byron and a handful of others following suit. Connor Zilisch was hit with a speeding penalty, forcing an additional trip to pit road in his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.
Ty Gibbs was the only driver among the leaders to pit, electing for four tires on Lap 76 while Hamlin, Preece and series leader Kyle Larson stayed on track, remaining intent on making it to the first stage break on the same sets of Goodyear Eagles. Hamlin and Preece navigated lapped traffic in reverse as cars on fresher tires passed them to regain their laps.
On Lap 84, Hamlin got stuck behind lapped cars on the top lane, allowing Preece to dart to the bottom and take his first lead of the afternoon. Preece extended his lead to over seven seconds over Hamlin, but the first cars who pitted had tracked the No. 11 Toyota down. Byron launched into second, with Gibbs passing Hamlin moments later for third. Logano, who was on the same strategy as Hamlin, passed him for fourth, and Hamlin eventually plummeted deep outside the top 10 along with Larson and Chase Briscoe.
Byron passed Preece with six laps to go to claim the segment victory. In the closing moments of the frame, Byron lapped his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Larson; the No. 5 driver was not in the free-pass position to start Stage 2.
Larson entered Sunday’s race 73 points ahead of Hamlin for the series lead and remains in a position to potentially clinch the championship following Sunday’s race.
The first 130 laps were completed caution-free.
This story will be updated.