MARTINSVILLE, Va. (WSET/NASCAR Wire) — He did it again.

For the second consecutive year, defending series champion Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 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 in the final turn in a futile attempt to deprive William Byron of the final spot in next Sunday’s title event at Phoenix Raceway .

Bell drove hard into Turn 3 on the final lap, passed Bubba Wallace to get the only point he needed, slid into the outside wall and jumped the fence in Turn 4, committing what NASCAR considered a safety violation. Bell was penalized four places to 22nd place as Byron moved up 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 exhausted, I have nothing left,” said Blaney, who ran over Elliott and Larson from three seconds back after a restart on Lap 414.

“Oh my God, I’m tired. Good battle, this car held out longer than most and I was really able to gain 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 Penske teammate Joey Logano in the Championship 4 after triumphing in a race that featured the optional Goodyear tire on the cars’ right sides and a softer compound on the left.

“The last 70 laps or so I tried to save my rear (tires) as best I could, because that’s where I started having problems later in the races,” said Blaney, who led 32 laps. “I hated having to put the bumper on some guys, but I had to do it. It was nice to get clean on the 9th (Elliott). I bumped up a couple of guys I wish I didn’t have to, but I needed to get going, so it was a long night.

“I thank everyone for making (the No. 12 Ford) better overnight. Thank God. “I think this is the most tired I have 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 in the closing laps, boxing in the Ford of Brad Keselowski, who led 170 laps, the maximum of the race, and won the second stage.

After the race, before Bell’s penalty, Byron insisted that Bell had committed an infraction by hitting 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 ban instituted after Ross Chastain rolled the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4 at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4 in 2022 .

“In my opinion, that’s what counts. We all sit in meetings and talk about whether there should be a rule against it. His (Bell’s) front tires were not touching the ground coming out of (Turn) 4, against the fence.”

After the failure, Bell congratulated Byron on his advancement to Championship 4. Bell had recovered from an early spin in Turn 2 and an unscheduled pit stop to tighten a loose wheel and make his last attempt for the final spot in the playoffs.

Had Bell retained his 18th place finish, he would have edged out Byron for the Championship 4 spot in a tiebreaker.

“It was Martinsville, and it was a late round eight race,” Bell said. “Unfortunately, I was on the bad side. He made a lot of mistakes, he ran a sloppy race. It’s a shame it all comes down to a ball and strike decision like that.

“You can look at both sides of the fence: the Chevy organization had many blocks so that the 24 (Bryon) did not lose positions. I slid into the wall (on the last lap) and kept my foot in it. I guess it’s a wasted move.”

Along with Larson, Elliott and Bell, Hamlin failed to reach 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 in 66 circuits.

Championship 4 driver Tyler Reddick, who won last Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was out of the race after completing 458 laps and finished 34th.

However, Reddick, Logano, Blaney and Byron will start on equal terms in next Sunday’s Championship 4 race at Phoenix (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR Cup Race – XFINITY 500

Martinsville Circuit

Martinsville, Virginia

Sunday, November 3, 2024

1. (14) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 500.

2. (2) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 500.

3. (9) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 500.

4. (24) Austin Cindric, Ford, 500.

5. (37) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 500.

6. (3) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 500.

7. (10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500.

8. (22) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 500.

9. (18) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500.

10. (12) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 500.

11. (25) Noah Gragson, Ford, 500.

12. (29) Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 500.

13. (7) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 500.

14. (8) Ryan Preece, Ford, 500.

15. (4) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 500.

16. (11) Josh Berry #, Ford, 500.

17. (15) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 500.

18. (19) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 499.

19. (21) Erik Jones, Toyota, 499.

20. (28) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 499.

21. (36) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 499.

22. (16) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 499.

23. (20) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 498.

24. (1) Martín Truex Jr., Toyota, 498.

25. (27) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 498.

26. (13) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 498.

27. (33) Kaz Grala #, Ford, 497.

28. (23) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 497.

29. (30) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 497.

30. (26) Chris Buescher, Ford, 497.

31. (32) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 496.

32. (5) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 495.

33. (17) Michael McDowell, Ford, 490.

34. (31) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, Brakes, 458.

35. (34) Corey LaJoie, Ford, Oil Pressure, 365.

36. (6) Harrison Burton, Ford, Motor, 347.

37. (35) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, Brakes, 131.

Race winner’s average speed: 75.677 mph.

Race time: 3 hours, 28 minutes, 31 seconds. Margin of Victory: 2,593 Seconds.

Caution flags: 9 for 66 laps.

Leader changes: 15 among 7 drivers.

Lap leaders: 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.

Leader summary (driver, time leader, lap leader): Brad Keselowski 2 times over 170 laps; Chase Elliott (P) 5 times over 129 laps; Kyle Larson (P) 1 time over 71 laps; William Byron (P) 3 times for 51 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 41 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 3 times over 32 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 6 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 9,24,14,41,12,5,48,3,22,6

Stage #2 Top Ten: 6,12,11,5,24,20,3,48,10,41