Blaney does it again at Martinsville
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — He did it again.
For the second straight year, defending series champion Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway to advance to the Championship 4.
And as Blaney took the checkered flag to win Sunday’s Xfinity 500, Christopher Bell made a kamikaze move into the final corner in a futile attempt to deprive William Byron of the final spot in the next Sunday’s title event at Phoenix Raceway.
Bell drove hard into Turn 3 on the final lap, passed Bubba Wallace for the one point he needed, slipped up into the outside wall and rode the fence through Turn 4, committing what NASCAR deemed a safety violation. Bell was penalized four positions to 22nd as Byron advanced by four points.
Blaney passed Chase Elliott for the lead on Lap 486 of 500 and pulled away to win by 2.593 seconds over the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who was eliminated from the Playoffs along with teammate and third-place finisher Kyle Larson.
“I’m worn out out—I’ve got nothing left,” said Blaney, who ran down both Elliott and Larson from three seconds back after a restart on Lap 414.
“Oh, my God, I’m tired. Good battle, and this car hung on longer than most, and I could really make some ground.”
The victory was his third of the season, his second at the 0.526-mile short track and the 13th of his career.
Blaney joins Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in the Championship 4 after triumphing in a race that featured Goodyear’s option tire on the right sides of the cars and a softer compound on the left.
“The last 70 or so laps I tried to save my rear (tires) the best I could, because that’s where I started struggling later in the runs,” said Blaney, who led 32 laps. “I hated I had to lay the bumper to some guys, but I had to do it. It was nice to pass the 9 (Elliott) clean. I laid the bumper to a couple guys that I wish I didn’t have to, but I needed to get going, so it was a long night.
“I appreciate everybody for getting (the No. 12 Ford) better through the night. Thank goodness. I think that’s the most tired I’ve been after a race in a long time.”
Byron came home sixth behind Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin, as the Chevrolets of Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain ran side-by-side behind him on the closing laps, boxing in the Ford of Brad Keselowski, who led a race-high 170 laps and won the second stage.
After the race, before Bell’s penalty, Byron was adamant that Bell had committed a violation by riding the wall in the final corner.
“He rode the wall, and there’s a clear rule against riding the wall,” Byron said, referring to the prohibition instituted after Ross Chastain shot around the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4 in 2022.
“In my eyes, that’s what counts… We all sat in meetings and talked about whether there should be a rule against it. His (Bell’s) front tires were off the ground coming off (Turn) 4 there, against the fence.”
After the ruling, Bell congratulated Byron on his advancement to the Championship 4. Bell had recovered from an early spin in Turn 2 and an unscheduled pit stop to tighten a loose wheel to make his last-ditch bid for the final Playoff spot.
Had Bell retained his 18th-place finish, he would have edged Byron for the Championship 4 berth on a tiebreaker.
“It was Martinsville, and it was a Round of 8 cutoff race,” Bell said. “Unfortunately, I was on the bad side of it. Made a lot of mistakes, ran a sloppy race. It is a shame that it comes down to a ball-and-strike call like that.
“You can look at both sides of the fence—the Chevy organization had a lot of blocking going on so that the 24 (Bryon) didn’t lose positions. I slid into the wall (on the final lap) and kept my foot into it. I guess that is a losing move.”
Along with Larson, Elliott and Bell, Hamlin failed to make the Championship 4, finishing 24 points below the elimination line.
Dillon finished seventh on Sunday, followed by Chastain, Keselowski and Logano.
Elliott won the first stage and led 129 laps. Larson led 71 laps and Byron 51 in a race that featured nine cautions for 66 circuits.
Championship 4 driver Tyler Reddick, who won last Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, fell put of the race after completing 458 laps and finished 34th.
However, Reddick, Logano, Blaney and Byron will start on even terms in next Sunday’s Championship 4 Race at Phoenix (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 35
Race Results for the XFINITY 500 - Sunday, November 3, 2024
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - 0.526 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 500 Laps - 263. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 11/3/2024 @ 06:13 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 14 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Discount Tire Ford 500 5 2 55 Running 3 32 5
2 2 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 500 1 45 Running 5 129 1
3 9 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 500 6 4 46 Running 1 71
4 24 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford 500 33 Running
5 37 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx One Rate Toyota 500 3 40 Running
6 3 24 William Byron (P) Liberty University Chevrolet 500 2 5 46 Running 3 51
7 10 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 500 8 7 37 Running
8 22 1 Ross Chastain Moose Fraternity Chevrolet 500 29 Running
9 18 6 Brad Keselowski King's Hawaiian Ford 500 10 1 39 Running 2 170 1
10 12 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 500 9 29 Running
11 25 10 Noah Gragson Bed Bath & Beyond Ford 500 9 28 Running
12 29 16 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet 500 0 Running
13 7 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 500 7 8 31 Running
14 8 41 Ryan Preece Mohawk Northeast Ford 500 4 10 31 Running
15 4 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 500 3 30 Running
16 11 4 Josh Berry # SunnyD Ford 500 21 Running
17 15 31 Daniel Hemric High Point Paint Services Chevrolet 500 20 Running
18 19 23 Bubba Wallace Xfinity Toyota 499 19 Running 1 6
19 21 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 499 18 Running
20 28 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Colgate/Philadelphia Whipped Chevrolet 499 17 Running
21 36 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 499 16 Running
22 16 20 Christopher Bell (P) Mobil 1 Toyota 499 6 20 Running
23 20 99 Daniel Suarez Jockey Outdoors by Luke Bryan Chevrolet 498 14 Running
24 1 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance/Thank You Martin Toyota 498 13 Running 1 41
25 27 77 Carson Hocevar # Premier Security Chevrolet 498 12 Running
26 13 38 Todd Gilliland Ruedebusch Ford 498 11 Running
27 33 15 Kaz Grala # Meat N' Bone Ford 497 10 Running
28 23 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 497 9 Running
29 30 7 Justin Haley Optic Gaming/Gainbridge Sport Chevrolet 497 8 Running
30 26 17 Chris Buescher BuildSubmarines.com Ford 497 7 Running
31 32 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 496 6 Running
32 5 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 495 5 Running
33 17 34 Michael McDowell Benebone Ford 490 4 Running
34 31 45 Tyler Reddick (P) Monster Energy Toyota 458 3 Brakes
35 34 51 Corey LaJoie Jacob Construction Ford 365 2 Oil Pressure
36 6 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 347 1 Engine
37 35 66 * Josh Bilicki(i) 2ONE Pouches Ford 131 0 Brakes
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 28 Mins, 31 Secs. Average Speed: 75.677 MPH Margin of Victory: 2.593 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 9, 24, 14, 41, 12, 5, 48, 3, 22, 6
Stage 2 Top 10: 6, 12, 11, 5, 24, 20, 3, 48, 10, 41
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 9 for 66 laps; Laps: 78-85 (#20, 51 incident turn 2 [47]); 132-141 (Stage 1 Conclusion [71]); 146-151 (#31, 99 incident turn 2 [8]); 159-164 (#21, 3, 77 incident turn 4 [19]); 185-191 (#42, 19, 31 incident turn 4 [15]); 197-202 (#31, 77, 38 incident turn 1 [16]); 262-270 (Stage 2 Conclusion [38]); 399-406 (#48, 77 incident turn 2 [4]); 408-413 ( [23]).
Lead Changes: 15 among 7 drivers; M. Truex Jr. 1-41; C. Elliott (P) 42-84; W. Byron (P) 85-86; C. Elliott (P) 87-140; W. Byron (P) 141-185; C. Elliott (P) 186; R. Blaney (P) 187-202; B. Keselowski 203-263; R. Blaney (P) 264; B. Keselowski 265-373; B. Wallace 374-379; C. Elliott (P) 380-401; W. Byron (P) 402-405; K. Larson (P) 406-476; C. Elliott (P) 477-485; R. Blaney (P) 486-500.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: November 10, 2024 - Phoenix Raceway
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NASCAR CUP SERIES FINAL FOUR
POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-
1 12 Ryan Blaney Ford No Points winner flag.
2 22 Joey Logano Ford No Points winner flag.
3 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota No Points winner flag.
4 24 William Byron Chevrolet No Points winner flag.
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