MARTINSVILLE, Va. — William Byron won Sunday's Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, capping off a storybook weekend for Hendrick Motorsports.
On the day Hendrick Motorsports celebrated its 40th anniversary, Byron, who started 18th, took his third win of the season. Martinsville Speedway is the place. The organization's first victory.
more: Martinsville Cup Results
Byron led Hendrick Motorsports to a 1-2-3 finish, the first in Martinsville Speedway history, with Kyle Larson second and Chase Elliott third. Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five. His fourth driver for HMS, Alex Bowman, finished the day in his eighth place.
The race went into overtime when John Hunter Nemechek had problems with his front right tire and made contact with the outside wall. This erased Byron's lead and forced the field to fall back and make a two-lap dash to the finish line.
Hamlin headed to pit road from fourth place, while several others remained on the track, including Byron, Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Wallace, and Bowman.
When the green flag waved, Byron held off Elliott and moved into the lead. He led the final two laps of the race and won in his ruby red No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro.
Byron leads the series with three wins this season. He has won on superspeedways (Daytona 500), on road courses (Circuit of the Americas) and on short tracks.
Hendrick Motorsports' best moments at Martinsville
We count down Hendrick Motorsports' top five moments at Martinsville Speedway, including Darrell Waltrip, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Bodine.
Stage 1 winners: Kyle Larson
Stage 2 winners: Denny Hamlin
Who had a good race: William Byron led 88 laps and took his third win of the season. … Bubba Wallace started the race on the front row, the best starting position at Martinsville. He finished fourth with 18 stage points, his best finish since Atlanta in February. … Kyle Larson started from pole position and led 86 laps. He finished in second place. …Chase Elliott completed 64 laps and finished third, his best finish of the season. … Ryan Blaney had to make an extra pit stop after Stage 1 to tighten his wheels. He raced through the field to finish fifth. … Joey Logano took a gamble by stopping two tires at the start of Stage 2. He led 84 laps and finished the day in 6th place.
Who had a bad race: A tire problem on stage 2 caused Christopher Bell to fall on pit road. He lost three laps before rejoining the field. He then spun on lap 202 and had to pit again. Bell finished 35th. … Days after reuniting with crew chief Justin Alexander, Dillon spent the entire race at Martinsville outside the top 30. He finished 34th because he lost power steering. … Josh Berry crashed two laps late on the final stage after receiving a penalty for poor tire control. He finished 25th.
Next: The Cup team will head to Texas Motor Speedway for the Sunday afternoon race on April 14th. FS1 will cover the race.
