{"id":62235,"date":"2026-11-01T20:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T02:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=62235"},"modified":"2026-11-01T20:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T02:38:25","slug":"william-byron-dominates-at-martinsville-while-kyle-larson-is-one-step-closer-to-back-to-back-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/01\/william-byron-dominates-at-martinsville-while-kyle-larson-is-one-step-closer-to-back-to-back-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"William Byron dominates at Martinsville while Kyle Larson is one step closer to back-to-back championships \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
By Holly Cain <\/b><\/b>| <\/span>NASCAR Wire Service<\/b> <\/div>\n
MARTINSVILLE, Va. \u2013 William Byron claimed his first victory of the season in Sunday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson put himself into prime championship position with one race to go in the 2026 season.<\/div>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
The 28-year-old Charlotte native Byron led a dominating 362 of the 500 laps at the historic .524-mile speedway ultimately claiming a 2.049-second victory over the defending race winner, another Hendrick teammate, Chase Elliott. It was the most laps that Byron had ever led in a single race in his nine-year career in NASCAR\u2019s premier series and resulted in his fourth win at the track along with the 17th victory of his career.<\/div>\n
His No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was so dominant that Byron swept both stage wins and was able to put all but seven cars in the 37-car field a lap down by the checkered flag.<\/div>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always pretty good here,\u201d Byron said smiling in understatement.<\/div>\n
\u201cMan, it\u2019s been a long road this year and this team\u2019s worked really hard and I just appreciate them. We\u2019ve had our struggles but today feels damn good. Man, we never quit and there\u2019s something to be said about that.\u2019\u2019<\/div>\n
Beyond Byron\u2019s pace out front to deliver the Hendrick team its 32nd Martinsville victory, the drivers still chasing down the 2026 championship trophy had an eventful afternoon. Polesitter and Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Denny Hamlin, who came into the race ranked second to Larson, finished sixth. Larson finished ninth and JGR\u2019s Christopher Bell was 10th.<\/div>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, poses with the winner sticker on his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Heading to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Larson now only needs to finish 28th or better \u2013 or simply gain nine points \u2013 to hoist his third career championship trophy.<\/div>\n
He holds a 67-point lead on Bell and a 70-point advantage over Hamlin heading to South Florida. They are now the only three drivers still mathematically eligible for the title.<\/div>\n
\u201cI absolutely will feel some pressure this week,\u201d Larson conceded. \u201cI know it’s a large gap. Crazy things can happen. Just got to go there and execute like we have all Chase, yeah, just be ready to capitalize.\u201d<\/div>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Xfinity Toyota, races during the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
The reigning series champion Larson won the race held last spring at the Homestead 1.5-mile oval and should he claim the title, the 33-year-old Californian would become only the 10th driver in NASCAR\u2019s 78-year history to win three championships or more.<\/div>\n
An unsuccessful strategy call early in the race essentially forced Larson and Martinsville pole winner Hamlin to play catch up early in the going.<\/div>\n
Unlike most of the field, neither Larson\u2019s nor Hamlin\u2019s teams opted to pit mid-stage in the opening 160-lap Stage. But left on older tires they could not keep the top five pace they had shown in the opening laps and their competition who did pit was able to blow by.<\/div>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
The loss of track position fundamentally forced a change to their strategy with Larson going down a lap and Hamlin falling to the rear of the lead lap. And Hamlin said the setback really proved too much to recover from.<\/div>\n
\u201cJust really came down to stage one with us running the no-stop strategy,\u2019\u2019 said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota. \u201cLost all of our track position there.<\/div>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, races during the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cOnce we lost our track position, the strategy, it’s hard to drive back to the front,\u2019\u2019 he added. \u201cNobody else did. We obviously got some decent damage there.\u201d<\/div>\n
Bell, who steers the No. 20 JGR Toyota, was not immune from challenges either. After running top 10 for much of the early race, it looked like he would benefit from some fortunate pit stop timing \u2013 having been on pit road when a caution came out on lap 198. But he was issued a speeding penalty on pit exit and dropped from what would have been the lead to 14th position on the restart.<\/div>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: (EDITORS NOTE: This image was created with a variable plane focus lens.) Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 King’s Hawaiian Maple Brown Sugar Toyota, leads the field to green to start the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Then only a handful of laps later, Bell collided with his teammate Hamlin after slight contact from Team Penske\u2019s Joey Logano in Turn 2 – all fighting for position. There wasn\u2019t any significant damage and the two JGR cars returned to track. Larson was also able to get his lap back on the yellow that came out for the incident.<\/div>\n
\u201cI think at least myself, I got tricked into thinking I was better than I was,\u2019\u2019 Bell said mustering a slight smile. \u201cMy team, [crew chief] Adam [Stevens], did a great strategy call there in stage one to pit and got us a bunch of track position.<\/div>\n
\u201cOn the stage two start, I felt like I was pretty good. Adam came on the radio and said that William [Byon] was running part throttle. I’m at 100%, he’s at 80%. I don’t know, just I was pretty close on the short run, then the long run I fell off.<\/div>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – NOVEMBER 01: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, reacts after the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
All in all, 10th is probably about where we stacked up. It was a really hectic day. It is what it is.\u201d<\/div>\n
The longest green flag run (230 laps) in nearly 40 years closed out the race, however, and all three were able to rally forward for their top 10 finishes.<\/div>\n
JGR\u2019s Ty Gibbs ran among the top five for most of the day and finished third with Wood Brothers\u2019 Josh Berry and Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Shane Van Gisbergen finishing fourth and fifth \u2013 quite a tremendous showing for the New Zealander Van Gisbergen who started 29th.<\/div>\n
Richard Childress Racing\u2019s Austin Dillon finished seventh, just behind Hamlin. 23XI Racing\u2019s Bubba Wallace, Larson and Bell completed the top 10.<\/div>\n
And so, it all comes down to next Sunday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) where Larson arrives the defending winner and all three championship-eligible drivers have previously hoisted trophies.<\/div>\n

Interviews: NCS Race Winning Leadership, Crew Chief, Winner – Jeff Andrews, Rudy Fugle, and William Byron (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) – <\/h3>\n
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