William Byron earns clutch Cup victory at Martinsville; clinches Championship 4 berth

William Byron earned a walk-off NASCAR Cup Series victory to this year’s Championship 4 round by winning the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 26, from the pole position.

The two-time Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for 304 of 500 scheduled laps. He qualified on the pole position and dominated the event’s first half by sweeping the first two stages and leading all but five of the first 265 scheduled laps. 

Then, after spending a majority of the final stage period trailing while Playoff rival Ryan Blaney dominated, Byron capitalized on a late move that involved contact with Blaney with 44 laps remaining to assume the top spot. From there, Byron had enough horsepower and momentum to fend off Blaney for the remainder of the event and score a crucial victory that all but clinched a Championship 4 berth for next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 25, Playoff contender William Byron secured his third Cup pole position of the 2025 season with a pole-winning lap at 98.185 mph in 19.286 seconds. Byron shared the front row with Ty Gibbs, the latter of whom clocked in his fastest qualifying lap at 98.175 mph in 19.288 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, William Byron muscled his No. 24 Cincinnati Chevrolet entry ahead of Ty Gibbs and the field entering the first turn as Gibbs slightly stumbled at the launch. This allowed Kyle Larson to draw alongside Gibbs through the first two turns and the backstretch, while Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and the rest of the field that started to fan out trailed behind. With Larson overtaking Gibbs through Turns 3 and 4, Byron led the first lap.

Over the next four laps, Byron maintained an early advantage of four-tenths of a second over teammate Larson, Ty Gibbs, Hamlin and Logano. Cole Custer, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell followed suit in the top 10, respectively. As the field stacked up in the early stages of the event, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney were the two lowest-running Playoff competitors on the track as they were mired in 11th and 30th, respectively. Amid the battles, Byron retained the lead by four-tenths of a second at the Lap 10 mark.

Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Byron stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over teammate Larson while Elliott, who started eighth, overtook Gibbs for third place. Behind, Logano and Hamlin trailed in sixth and seventh, respectively, ahead of Custer, Cindric, Bell and Todd Gilliland. Briscoe was in 13th behind Kyle Busch and Michael McDowell. Meanwhile, Blaney, who started 31st, moved up to 23rd.

Two laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Daniel Suarez, who was racing within the top-20 mark, got hit by Bubba Wallace and spun halfway through the first two turns. Despite Suarez, Wallace and Gilliland, the latter of whom rubbed beneath Wallace while trying to dodge the carnage, making contact from their respective entries, the trio continued. During the event’s first caution period, the entire field led by Byron pitted for service. Following the pit stops, McDowell exited pit road first with only two fresh tires while Byron and Larson followed suit on four fresh tires.

The start of the next restart on Lap 35 featured Byron and McDowell battling dead even for the top spot. As McDowell tried to keep even with Byron from the inside lane, Byron, who had fresher tires than McDowell, led the next lap from the outside lane. As Byron muscled ahead through the first two turns, Larson then challenged McDowell for the runner-up spot and the former claimed the spot by Lap 38. Gibbs and Hamlin then overtook McDowell to move up to third and fourth, respectively, during the next lap. McDowell continued to be pressured by oncoming competitors who were racing with fresher tires than McDowell’s. Amid the battles, Byron led by three-tenths of a second by Lap 40.

At the Lap 50 mark, Byron was leading by half a second over teammates Larson and Elliott. Logano, Gibbs, Hamlin, Bell, Gilliland, Custer and Briscoe followed suit in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Blaney cracked the top-20 mark as he moved up to 20th place, while McDowell had plummeted to 22nd place. 

Twenty-five laps later, Byron stretched his lead to more than a second over teammate Larson. Teammate Elliott continued to trail in third place by two seconds. Meanwhile, Logano continued to occupy fourth place in front of Gibbs, Hamlin, Bell, Gilliland, Custer and Cindric. Briscoe raced in 11th place in front of Alex Bowman, Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar and Blaney. 

Through the Lap 100 mark, Byron’s lead slightly decreased to eight-tenths of a second over teammate Larson while teammate Elliott trailed by more than two seconds in third place. While Logano, Hamlin and Bell continued to trail in fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, Briscoe cycled back to the top-10 mark in 10th place while Blaney was up to 11th place.

Fifteen laps later, Byron stretched his lead back up to two seconds over teammate Larson. Behind, Logano, who assumed third place from Elliott on Lap 105, trailed by three-and-a-half seconds. Elliott and Gibbs occupied the remaining top-five spots ahead of Hamlin, Bell, Gilliland, Blaney and Cindric. With Blaney cracking the top-10 mark, Briscoe trailed in 11th place.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 130, Byron, who entered Martinsville 36 points below the top-four cutline to make this year’s Championship 4 round, captured his ninth Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Logano, who overtook Larson for the runner-up spot 10 laps earlier, followed suit.

Elliott, Gibbs, Hamlin, Blaney, Bell, Gilliland and Cindric were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Briscoe was the lone Playoff contender who did not accumulate points in the event’s first stage, as he was mired in 13th place while only 14 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the first stage break period, the lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Byron retained the lead by exiting first ahead of Logano and Larson while Elliott, Gibbs, Hamlin, Blaney, Bell, Cindric, Preece, van Gisbergen, Gilliland and Briscoe followed suit, respectively.

The second stage period started on Lap 141 as Byron and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Byron used the inside lane to muscle ahead of Logano and the field through the first two turns. With Byron retaining the lead through the backstretch, Logano pulled a bold block on Larson to retain the runner-up spot. As Byron led the next lap, Logano followed suit while teammates Larson and Elliott dueled for third place in front of Gibbs, Bell and Hamlin.

Just past the Lap 150 mark, Byron was leading by four-tenths of a second over Logano and by seven-tenths of a second over third-place Larson. Gibbs, Bell and Hamlin trailed from fourth to sixth, respectively. Behind, Elliott dropped to seventh place ahead of Blaney, Cindric and Ryan Preece while Briscoe was scored in 12th place behind Gilliland.

Twenty-five laps later, Byron’s lead stood to one second over Logano, Larson and Elliott, while fifth-place Gibbs trailed by three seconds in fifth place. As Bell, Hamlin and Blaney followed suit from sixth to eighth, respectively, Briscoe was racing in 13th place behind van Gisbergen. 

Through the Lap 200 mark, Byron stabilized his lead to more than a second over Logano, Larson and Elliott while Gibbs continued to occupy fifth place in front of Blaney, Bell and Hamlin. With Briscoe trailing in 13th place, Byron led by nearly two seconds over teammate Larson by Lap 210 as Logano dropped to third place in front of Elliott and Gibbs. Meanwhile, Blaney and Hamlin were battling for sixth place and Bell faded to 11th place.

Then on Lap 215, the caution flew when Carson Hocevar, who was racing in 25th place, spun in Turn 2 after he received contact from his future Spire Motorsports teammate, Daniel Suarez. During the caution period, the lead lap field of 14, led by Byron, pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Byron exited pit road first. He was followed by Larson, Logano, Elliott, Gibbs, Blaney, Hamlin, Bell, Cindric and Gilliland, respectively.

When the race restarted on Lap 223, Byron, who restarted on the outside lane alongside Larson, muscled ahead of Larson and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. With both lanes to his advantage, Byron cycled back to the frontstretch. He led the next lap while Larson retained the runner-up spot ahead of teammate Elliott, Blaney, Logano, Bell, Gibbs and Hamlin.

On Lap 229, the caution returned when Cole Custer, who was racing in the top-20 mark, got hit and spun sideways by Josh Berry, the latter of whom got pushed by Alex Bowman amid a small stack-up in Turn 4, with Brad Keselowski barely avoiding Custer’s No. 41 Texas A&M University Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry as the former was navigating through the turn.

As the event restarted on Lap 237, Byron used the outside lane to muscle ahead of teammate Larson for a second consecutive time while Blaney, who restarted behind Byron, challenged Larson for the runner-up spot. Blaney then used the outside lane to rocket ahead of Larson during the following lap and he proceeded to reel in Byron while Elliott, Logano, Bell, Hamlin and Gibbs followed suit.

Not long after, the caution returned on Lap 242 after Cody Ware spun in Turn 4 and came to a rest sideways as he lost a right-rear wheel. During the caution period, some led by Blaney and including Logano and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

The start of the next restart on Lap 249 featured Byron using the outside lane and rocketing ahead of Larson for a third consecutive time through the first two turns. As Byron led, Bell challenged Larson from the outside lane. With Bell navigating his way into the runner-up spot, Byron led the next lap, which marked the halfway mark of the overall event. Larson then re-engaged in his battle with Bell for the runner-up spot while Elliott, Gilliland and Briscoe followed suit, respectively.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 260, Byron captured his second consecutive stage victory of the event and his 10th of the 2025 Cup Series season. Teammate Larson fended off Bell for the runner-up spot while Elliott, Gilliland, Briscoe, Preece, van Gisbergen, Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Blaney, Hamlin and Logano ended up 11th through 13th, respectively, while only 18 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

During the second stage break period, a majority of the lead lap field led by Byron and including Larson, Bell, Elliott and Briscoe pitted. The rest, led by Reddick and including Blaney, Hamlin, and Logano, remained on the track.

Final Stage

With 229 laps remaining, the third and final stage period at Martinsville commenced as Reddick and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, both Reddick and Blaney dueled for the top spot for a full lap before the latter led the next lap. During the following lap, Blaney managed to motor his No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry ahead of Reddick and he had the lead to his sole possession. By then, Blaney, who entered Martinsville 47 points below the Championship 4 cutline, leapt above the cutline and Byron dropped back below the cutline while Larson held a narrow advantage over Bell for the final transfer berth.

The caution then returned with 222 laps remaining when Wallace bumped Keselowski into Berry. As a result, Berry spun the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry in Turn 2 while racing within the top-20 mark. 

When the race restarted with 214 laps remaining, Blaney and Hamlin dueled for the top spot for a full lap. Blaney managed to lead the next lap from the inside lane. Blaney then muscled ahead of Hamlin and proceeded to lead the following lap. Reddick, Logano, Gibbs, Byron, Elliott and Bell followed suit.

With 200 laps remaining, Blaney was leading at Martinsville by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Logano, Byron and Elliott followed suit in the top five, respectively. Behind, Bell, Gibbs, Cindric, Preece, Reddick and Larson trailed in the top 11 while Briscoe, who fell off the pace five laps earlier and pitted under green, took his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE entry behind the wall due to a potential mechanical issue.

Twenty-five laps later, Blaney extended his lead to one-and-a-half seconds over Hamlin while third-place Byron trailed by two seconds. Behind, Logano trailed by more than three seconds while Elliott and Bell, both of whom occupied fifth and sixth on the track, trailed by four seconds. Meanwhile, Larson was mired in ninth place and trailing by seven seconds. 

Then, with 165 laps remaining and as the on-track battles between the remaining Playoff contenders intensified, trouble struck for Hamlin as he fell off the pace from the runner-up spot and took his No. 11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE entry behind the wall due to an engine issue. By then, this marked a third Toyota mechanical failure as Riley Herbst had taken his entry behind the wall prior to Hamlin’s misfortune while Briscoe had retired earlier. Fortunately, the mechanical issues did not impact Hamlin and Briscoe’s Playoff run as both had already clinched Championship 4 berths.

With Hamlin out of contention, Blaney retained the lead at Martinsville by more than a second with less than 160 laps remaining while Byron, Elliott, Bell and Preece moved up in the top five. Blaney stabilized his lead to within one-and-a-half seconds over Byron with less than 150 laps remaining while Elliott retained third place. Meanwhile, Preece swapped spots with Bell for fourth place while Larson and Logano followed suit in sixth and seventh, respectively.

Then, with 127 laps remaining, Logano pitted under green from the top 10. By then, some that included Keselowski, Buescher and Hocevar pitted, as more names that included Elliott and Bell pitted during the next lap. Then, as Larson pitted with 125 laps remaining, Byron too pitted while Blaney pitted from the lead with 124 laps remaining.

Amid the pit stops, the caution flew with 123 laps remaining when Erik Jones locked up his front tires, made contact with Wallace and spun in Turn 4 as Byron barely dodged the incident. By then, some that included the leader Ross Chastain, Gilliland, Berry and Cindric had not yet pitted. In addition, only eight competitors, including Blaney and Byron, were scored on the lead lap.

During the caution period, Chastain led Gilliland, Berry and Custer to pit road while Blaney and Byron remained on the track. In addition, several competitors that included Elliott, Larson, Bell and Logano took the wave around to cycle back on the lead lap, but they were mired either within and outside the top-10 mark as Blaney cycled back to the lead.

With the race restarting with 111 laps remaining, Blaney muscled ahead of Byron through the first two turns as he retained the lead for a full lap. As Blaney retained the top spot, Byron pursued by a tenth of a second as Chastain, Berry and Gilliland followed suit in front of Custer, Elliott, Preece, van Gisbergen and Larson.

With 103 laps remaining, the caution flew at Martinsville due to Hocevar spinning in Turn 2 after he received a bump from future teammate Daniel Suarez for a second time. During the latest caution period, some, including Bell, Logano, Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Reddick, pitted while the rest, led by Blaney, remained on the track. 

The next restart, with 96 laps remaining, featured Blaney muscling ahead and clearing Byron for the lead from the inside lane through the first two turns. As Blaney led, Byron fended off Chastain for the runner-up spot as Berry and Gilliland followed suit. Meanwhile, Elliott and Larson were mired in the top-10 mark. Bell and Logano were trailing within the top-15 mark while Blaney led by two-tenths of a second with 90 laps remaining.

Down to the final 75 laps of the Martinsville event, Blaney was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Byron while Chastain, Berry, Elliott, Preece, Larson, Gilliland, Kyle Busch, Logano and Bell followed suit in the top 11, respectively. By then, Blaney was placed in a prime position of securing a Championship 4 berth by leading the event and Larson held the final transfer berth to the finale by nine points over Bell while Byron trailed the cutline by 28 points. Elliott and Logano were also trailing the cutline with Bell and Byron.

Fifteen laps later, Blaney stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over Byron while Chastain, Berry and Elliott trailed by as far back as four seconds in the top five. Over the next 10 laps, Elliott lost fifth place to Preece, Larson followed suit in seventh, Logano was mired in 10th and Bell was back in 12th. Meanwhile, Blaney, who was mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Byron with 50 laps remaining.

Then with 44 laps remaining, Byron, who had been reeling in Blaney for the top spot, returned atop the leaderboard after he got underneath and made contact with Blaney through the first two turns while Blaney was trapped behind the lapped competitor of Ty Dillon.

As a result, Byron leaped back above the cutline while Blaney, who was placed in a “must-win” situation, trailed the cutline by 54 points. Meanwhile, Larson retained the final transfer berth to the Championship 4 round by 10 points over Bell as Byron proceeded to lead by half a second over Blaney with 30 laps remaining.

Then, with 18 laps remaining, the caution flew again at Martinsville due to Hocevar spinning for a third time, this time in Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Byron had grown his lead to eight-tenths of a second over Blaney while Preece, Chastain, Berry, Elliott, Larson, Gilliland, Logano and Bell were racing in the top 10, respectively. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Byron pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron exited first and he was followed by Blaney, Chastain, Elliott, and Larson, while Logano and Bell exited eighth and 10th.

With the race restarting with 11 laps remaining, Byron and Blaney briefly dueled through the first two turns before Byron used the inside lane to rocket ahead entering the backstretch. As Byron led the next lap while Blaney pursued, Chastain, Elliott and Larson trailed in the top five while Gilliland, Berry, Preece, Logano and Bell followed suit in the top 10. Amid the late battles mired within the field, Byron proceeded to lead Blaney by half a second with five laps remaining.

When the white flag waved at Martinsville and the final lap started, Byron remained in the lead by six-tenths of a second over Blaney. With Blaney unable to reel in close enough to Byron’s rear bumper, Byron was able to smoothly steer his No. 24 Chevrolet entry around Martinsville for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by seven-tenths of a second over Blaney.

With the victory, Byron notched his 16th NASCAR Cup Series career victory in his 287th series start, his third both at Martinsville and of the 2025 season, and his first win since he won at Iowa Speedway in early August. The victory was also the eighth of the 2025 season for Hendrick Motorsports, the organization’s 30th at Martinsville, and the 15th for the Chevrolet nameplate.

By winning the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville, Byron earned a one-way ticket to the Championship 4 round for a third consecutive season. As a result, he and his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team led by crew chief Rudy Fugle will contend for the 2025 series’ championship.