Ryan Blaney won at Martinsville and made the title run again.
A year after winning the first Cup Series title of his career at the half-mile short course a week before Blaney won again Sunday at Martinsville to clinch a spot in the final four.
Blaney passed Chase Elliott with 15 laps to go and will race for the title with his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell, who bounced off the wall on the final lap as he passed a slowing Bubba Wallace to reach the final to sneak in four ahead of William Byron.
It took NASCAR several minutes to determine the starting order after the race as the sanctioning body banned drivers from driving over the wall to gain positions at Martinsville following Ross Chastain’s incredible move in 2022. Wallace said he was in the last slowed down for laps because he had a blown tire. down.
The Chevy guys behind Byron also made it clear they weren’t going to pass him. Byron had Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon two wide behind him for the final laps of the race and although it appeared that both drivers had more speed than Byron, neither separated to attempt a pass on Byron for the sixth place.
Bell’s pass from Wallace meant Bell and Byron were tied in the points standings for the fourth and final spot in the title race.
