MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney raced his way into the NASCAR Cup Series championship race with a solid victory in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Blaney battled race-leader Aric Almirola for the lead in a side-by-side battle before taking the lead in turn four with 22 laps to go.
He drove it all the way to the checkered flag and into the NASCAR championship race next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
“It’s awesome,” Blaney said. “I grew up in High Point, (North Carolina) not too far from here. Martinsville is closer to High Point honestly, than Charlotte.
“This is really cool. I’ve been wanting to win here for a long time. Been super close for many years. Awesome to close it out.
With last year’s NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, there had been talk that it was a down year for Team Penske in 2023.
Blaney saved the season by coming to life in the playoffs, especially in the Round of Eight.
“We felt like we put together really strong Playoffs, especially the Round of 8, we had a good run in the whole Round of 8,” Blaney said. “Overall really proud of the whole effort.
“RP (Team owner Roger Penske) couldn’t be here, unfortunately, but I know he’s watching. This is awesome. Can’t wait to get to Phoenix next week.”
Blaney will attempt to give team owner Roger Penske his second-straight NASCAR Cup Series championship. Joey Logano won the title for Team Penske in 2022.
William Byron also made the Championship 4 for the first time in his career with a 13th-place finish. That gave him an eight-point advantage over Denny Hamlin, who finished third and was the last driver eliminated for the second year in a row at Martinsville.
Hamlin finished eight points below the cutline.
Last year, he was eliminated by Ross Chastain’s wild “Hail Melon” move that has since been outlawed by NASCAR.
This year, he was eliminated in a much more mundane way.
“Ultimately, the mechanical failure last week with the power steering sealed our fate,” Hamlin said. “The 12 car was the best today. Congrats to them.
“Hate we are not in it, but we are definitely happy with the performance today all the way around.
“In the Round of Eight, you can’t have any problems and what happened last week with the power steering failure was what did it for us.
“I’m really happy about the year in general. We were substantially faster at most tracks but the 12 car showed up for this round. The performance today was phenomenal.”
Hamlin led the most laps in the race with 156. Blaney led four times for 145 laps, including the final 23.
The Championship 4 includes race Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports who clinched with a win two weeks ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell who won at Homestead-Miami Speedway last Sunday, Blaney and the highest driver in the points without a win in the Round of Eight, Byron.
“Obviously we were not very good,” Byron said. “It was our worst race of the year. These guys deserve it so much. They work so hard. Honestly, probably with 50 to go I felt really, really bad. I just had did drive the hell out of it. The guys stuck with me, they kept motivating me through little bits and pieces, just kind of keeping my mind straight.
“I’m just really thankful for them.
“It was just a slugfest. Everyone raced me there good at the end. Congrats to Ryan. I was really happy for him, brother-in-law. He was really fast. But, man, we just had to hang on. Just had to dig a little bit deeper.
“I knew when I got out of the car I was just beat. But the result means more than anything. These guys work so hard. We’ve worked so hard all season. I’m just really proud of them.”
Byron was exhausted when his helmet fan stopped working on an unusally hot day in the mid-80s in Southern Virginia.
“My helmet fan wouldn’t work,” Byron recalled. “My face is bright red. My COOLSHIRT, all that stuff was great. When your head is just blowing like a hair dryer, it’s really tough.
“We train for that. You just try to find a little bit more. You’re not going to pull in, I guarantee that, with plus seven or plus eight, whatever, I was going to faint before I was going to finish or get out of the race. Just really proud of the team.
“They deserve this. We’ve worked really hard for it, so it’s nice to see it pay off.”
It’s the youngest Championship Four in NASCAR Cup Series history. The oldest driver is 31 (Larson).
The drivers eliminated included Hamlin, regular season champion Martin Truex, Jr., Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher.
Truex started on the pole, but was a victim of a speeding penalty on pit road and a pit stop gaffe when the car fell off the jack. He finished 12th. Buescher finished eighth and Reddick 26th.
Aric Almirola, who announced on Saturday he was “stepping away” from NASCAR Cup Series racing, took the lead on lap 412 when he passed Elliott.
With 43 laps remaining, only three points separated Byron and Hamlin from making the championship race or elimination.
Byron raced his way to 17th place and that increased his margin to five points with 28 laps remaining for the scheduled 500-lap distance.
With 10 laps to go, he was up to 14th as drivers that needed to pit for fuel made their stops.
Earlier in the final stage, Michael McDowell spun and hit the turn two wall on lap 322 for another caution that set up strategy for going the rest of the race without making another pit stop. It was four tires and fuel for most of the teams, as they were gearing up for the final battle on the track.
To add to the curious nature of this race, the pace car died on lap 329 between Turns one and two.
After the pace car was towed off the track, the green flag waved on lap 332 with Chase Elliott and Corey LaJoie the two lead cars. They engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead with Elliott getting the edge.
With 150 laps left in the race, Blaney was up 16 in the playoff battle and Byron was up five with Hamlin minus-5 and Reddick 31 points back.
What followed was the longest green flag run of the race as the laps wound down and the tension increased for Hamlin and Truex.
The final 168 laps of the race were green flag without interruption.
Blaney scored his 23rd NASCAR Cup Series victory by 0.899 seconds over Almirola’s Ford. Hamlin was third followed by Chase Briscoe’s Ford and last year’s Cup Series champion, Logano.
STAGE ONE
Truex started on the pole and led the first 47 laps of the race, where were run without incident. Hamlin took the lead when he passed Truex between turns three and four and led through the end of the first stage.
There was one caution during the stage on Lap 103 when Alex Bowman’s Chevrolet was involved in contact from behind by Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Ford in turn two. Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet spun around into the path of LaJoie, whose car ran into the side. Others involved were Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing got the free pass and pit stops began on lap 106 under caution.
The green flag waved on lap 112 and Blaney got a great jump from fourth starting position to pass Truex for second place.
On lap 130, Hamlin was in front to win Stage One getting the much-needed stage points that could later be the difference to his championship hopes. Blaney was second followed by Truex, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.
Byron finished 12th in that stage and did not get any stage points. Again, something that was important depending on how the race played out.
STAGE TWO
The second stage proved crucial for Reddick as he started to experience issues with his No. 45 Toyota. On lap 155, it got sideways in a gaggle of cars, and he nearly lost it, as the race continued green. Then, the engine on his Toyota started to run hot.
Meantime, up front, it was a side-by-side battle for the lead between Blaney and Hamlin on lap 194. The two drivers raced hard alongside each other for three laps before Blaney took the lead.
In the Hendrick Motorsports camp, there was panic on the radio for Byron, who entered the race with a seemingly healthy points lead, but saw it rapidly evaporate.
On lap 213, Blaney tried to pass Reddick and put him a lap down. The two cars banged several times, but both were able to maintain control.
Ryan Newman spun the No. 51 coming out of turn four and the yellow flag waved for caution.
During the ensuing pit stops, Austin Dillon and Truex were penalized for speeding on pit road. Bubba Wallace’s team was penalized for leaving the pit area with a wrench still attached to the car. The wrench eventually dislodged on the race track.
The restart was on lap 225 and on lap 228, there was another side-by-side battle for the lead with Blaney and Hamlin for the lead for another two laps. Blaney eventually grabbed the lead and Hamlin settled into second.
At the halfway point of the race on lap 250, it was Blaney, Hamlin, Briscoe, Logano and Keselowski.
Ten laps later, Stage Two was complete with Blaney in front followed by Hamlin, Briscoe, Logano, Keselowski, Gibbs, Preece, Todd Gilliland, Harvick and Bell. Those drivers all earned stage points.
During the pit stops under caution, Truex, who was penalized earlier in the race for speeding on pit road, has his car fall off the jack as his team was using two new crewmembers.
The green flag waved on lap 270 with Blaney and Hamlin side-by-side followed by Logano and Gibbs.
And then, chaos ensued in turn three.
Logano punted Gibbs out of the way in turn three, creating a calamity that also involved Keselowski, Michael McDowell, and Suarez. Hamlin was able to stay in front of the calamity, even though Gibbs’ Toyota was bumped into the back of Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota.
The four-car pileup brought out another yellow flag.
The green flag waved on lap 284 and Hamlin was surrounded by a Team Penske trio. Blaney was listed in first with Hamlin on the outside. Logano was behind Blaney with Austin Cindric alongside Logano. But the front two cars were able to pull away and Bubba Wallace’s Toyota raced up to third.
On lap 303, Gibbs hit the turn two wall hard for another caution.
Another restarted on lap 309 had Blaney in the lead with Wallace passing his team owner at 23XI Racing, Hamlin, for second place.
Hamlin regained the position on lap 318. At that point in the race, Hamlin was seven points below the cutline as the final 180 laps of the race would determine the Cup Series Championship 4.