"This is unbelievable": William Byron outduels Ryan Blaney at Martinsville to keep his NASCAR Championship dream alive

William Byron and (i) Ryan Blaney at Martinsville. ( Image source - Getty & Imagn )
William Byron and (i) Ryan Blaney at Martinsville. ( Image source - Getty & Imagn )

William Byron conquered the Martinsville playoff Cup race with his most dominant run of the 2025 NASCAR season. The Hendrick Motorsports star outdueled Ryan Blaney in a must-win battle for a spot in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix.

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Byron started the Xfinity 500 race on the pole and led a total of 304 laps, his most in his Cup Series career. The No. 24 Chevy driver's third win of the season came when it mattered the most. After re-taking the lead from the No. 12 Ford with less than 43 laps remaining proved to be the pivotal race-winning moment for Byron.

In a post-race conversation with NBC Sports, Byron shared his candid thoughts after defeating the reigning Martinsville fall winner for a chance at the NASCAR Cup title next weekend. He said:

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"Damn, I got a lot to say (smiling). Things have a way of working out. God really tests your resilience a lot of times. We’ve been tested. Just unbelievable. I’m out of breath. Thank you, fans, for coming out. Bad-ass crowd. I watched my first NASCAR race up there just before start-finish line. Man, I am just so thankful, excited to see my family, just celebrate this one. We obviously go to Phoenix. Just go try to kick ass there."
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Moreover, William Byron's resilient nature throughout the race became the core aspect of his bumper-to-bumper battle with the Team Penske driver. He continued:

"All these guys work so hard and you put everything into Sundays and sometimes you don’t get anything in return. And that’s been the last couple weeks, and honestly throughout the year, we had some close calls, but sometimes life is that way, but you just got to keep being resilient, and we were and just feels damn good."
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This will be William Byron's third Championship 4 appearance. He will join his teammate Kyle Larson and two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, at Phoenix Raceway.


NASCAR Cup Series 2025 Xfinity 500 race final results explored

Here are the final results of the 2025 Xfinity 500 race at Martinsville Speedway:

  1. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  2. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
  3. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  4. Ross Chastain, No. 1, Trackhouse Racing, Chevrolet
  5. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  6. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
  7. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  8. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
  9. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  10. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
  11. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
  12. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  13. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
  14. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
  15. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
  16. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
  17. Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
  18. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
  19. Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  20. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
  21. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
  22. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
  23. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  24. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  25. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  26. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
  28. AJ Allmendinger, No. 1 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
  29. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
  30. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  31. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  32. Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
  33. Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
  34. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
  35. Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 23XI Racing Toyota
  36. Riley Herbst, No, 35, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
  37. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

NASCAR will next prepare for the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway on November 2 at 3 p.m. ET.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

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Edited by Sashwat Deo
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