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NASCAR Cup Series Fans Respond To William Byron’s Bold Move, Xfinity 500 Win At Martinsville Speedway

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Updated –
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NASCAR Cup Series Fans Respond To William Byron’s Bold Move, Xfinity 500 Win At Martinsville Speedway

NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron executed the move of his career – thus far.

After sweeping the first two stages, Byron won from the pole after passing Ryan Blaney with fewer than 40 laps remaining. Blaney, the 2023 series champion, led 177 laps.

Byron, the regular-season champion, led 304 laps, the most in a single event of his eight-year career. The win and last-lap battle with Blaney was personal.

“I watched my first NASCAR race up there in that (Martinsville) crowd at the start finish line,” Byron told NBC Sports. “Man, I am just so thankful, excited to see my family and just celebrate this one. We’ll obviously go to Phoenix and just try to go kick (butt) there.”

Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, who placed P5 Sunday, earned a final four invitation via playoff points, while Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe qualified with wins during the first two Round of 8 events.

X (Twitter) users responded to the Cup Series’ final four …

The playoff standings following the Round of 8 finale …

Going green for the Round of 8 finale …

The aggressive short-track racing started early …

Blaney, who won at Martinsville last fall, started P31 and worked his way through the pack, but started experiencing an issue …

Christopher Bell’s title dreams started slipping away in the second stage …

Byron’s stage sweep …

Briscoe hopes his engine problems will be solved before heading out to the desert next weekend …

As Byron claimed control Sunday, Joey Logano, the reigning circuit titleholder, started facing and eventually was eliminated …

Hamlin already qualified for the final, but his playoff momentum stalled Sunday …

Byron and Blaney battled throughout Stage 3. “We just came up short. We did a good job and we got control of the race for a bit, but, gosh, (Byron’s) car was really fast,” Blaney said.

Byron’s “going for it … and loosens up the 12” …

Byron’s clincher …

Bell fell short – again …

Larson needed all the points he could get …

Celebration leap …

For Byron, time stood still before Sunday’s checkered flag …

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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