MARTINSVILLE, Va. — William Byron has capped off a storybook weekend for Hendrick Motorsports by winning Sunday’s Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.
Byron, who started 18th, won his third race of the season on the day Hendrick Motorsports celebrated its 40th anniversary. Martinsville Speedway is the site of the organization’s first win.
Byron led a 1-2-3 Hendrick Motorsports finish, the first in Martinsville Speedway history, with Kyle Larson in second and Chase Elliott in third. Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five. Alex Bowman, the fourth HMS driver, ended the day eighth.
The race went to overtime when John Hunter Nemechek lost his brakes and hit the outside wall. This forced the field to line back up for a two-lap dash to the finish line.
Hamlin headed to pit road from fourth while Byron, Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Wallace, Bowman and several others stayed out on the track.
Once the green flag waved, Byron jumped to the lead ahead of Elliott. He led the final two laps of the race and took the win.
Stage 1 winner: Kyle Larson
Stage 2 winner: Denny Hamlin
Who had a good race: William Byron led 88 laps and won his third race of the season. … Bubba Wallace started the race on the front row, his best starting position at Martinsville. He scored 18 stage points and finished fourth, his best finish since Atlanta in February. … Kyle Larson started from pole and led 86 laps. He finished second. … Chase Elliott 64 laps and finished third, his best finish of the season.
Who had a bad race: A tire issue in stage 2 sent Christopher Bell down pit road. He lost three laps before rejoining the field. He then spun on Lap 202 and had to make another pit stop. Bell finished 35th. … Days after reuniting with crew chief Justin Alexander, Dillon spent the entire Martinsville race outside of the top 30. He finished 34th. … Josh Berry fell two laps down in the final stage after serving a penalty for an uncontrolled tire. He finished 25th.
Next: Cup teams head to Texas Motor Speedway for a Sunday afternoon race on April 14. FS1 will provide coverage for the race.
Source Agencies
