TRENDING NFL Week 8 updates NFL Winners & Losers College Fantasy Waiver Wire F1 Mexico City GP updates Williams earns MVP honors Story by Story by William Byron Wins at Martinsville as NASCAR Championship Battle Takes Shape Maggie Mackenzie Sun, November 1, 2026 at 10:54 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement William Byron had a race to win Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Kyle Larson had a championship lead to protect.
Both Hendrick Motorsports drivers got what they needed.
Byron captured the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500, leading a Hendrick 1-2 finish with Chase Elliott, while Larson emerged from the penultimate race of the season with a 67-point advantage in the championship standings.
The 500-lap race produced plenty of setbacks for contenders, but Byron was the one celebrating in Victory Lane. Larson, meanwhile, left Martinsville in position to pursue the title when the series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for next weekend's season finale.
Byron's victory gave Hendrick Motorsports the top two spots at one of NASCAR's most demanding short tracks, with Elliott crossing the finish line second.
Ty Gibbs finished third, followed by Josh Berry and Shane van Gisbergen. Denny Hamlin recovered from an eventful afternoon to take sixth, while Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Larson and Christopher Bell completed the top 10.
For Byron, the win offered a strong finish to his Martinsville weekend despite no longer being in contention for the drivers' championship.
His teammates also had reasons to leave Virginia encouraged. Elliott's runner-up result completed the Hendrick sweep of the top two positions, while Larson's ninth-place finish proved more than enough to preserve his championship lead.
And with several contenders running into trouble, simply reaching the checkered flag without a major setback proved valuable.
Sunday's race was anything but straightforward for some of NASCAR's biggest names.
Bell and Hamlin were involved in a collision after Joey Logano made contact with Bell , sending the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates spinning. Both continued, although the incident added another complication to an already demanding afternoon.
Ryan Blaney's troubles were considerably worse.
The Team Penske driver spun in an incident involving traffic near the end of a stage, sustaining significant front-end damage. Blaney subsequently reported severe radiator damage and a loss of water pressure, problems that ultimately ended his race.
He was credited with a 35th-place finish, a particularly costly result with the championship finale approaching.
His teammate Austin Cindric finished 36th, while Josh Bilicki rounded out the 37-car field.
The afternoon also featured a notable recovery for Hamlin, who finished sixth despite the earlier contact. Bell finished 10th, but their respective results produced a change in the championship order.
For all the attention on Byron's victory, the championship implications may prove to be the lasting story from Martinsville.
Larson heads to Homestead with 2,469 points, 67 ahead of Bell. Hamlin sits another three points back, while Chase Briscoe trails Larson by 84 points.
Bell moved ahead of Hamlin into second place following Martinsville, setting up a close fight between the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates entering the final weekend.
Blaney, meanwhile, slipped one position to seventh after his early exit. Tyler Reddick moved up to sixth, and Byron climbed two spots to ninth.
Larson's lead gives him a substantial cushion, although the championship remains to be decided.
For Hendrick Motorsports, Martinsville delivered two very different victories: a checkered flag for Byron and a stronger championship position for Larson.
The next stop is Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season will reach its conclusion.
Source: Sports
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