MARTINSVILLE, VA. – Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, William Byron led a 1-2-3 finish for Hendrick Motorsports — the sport’s winningest team with 305 Cup victories. This marked the first time a Cup team took the top three spots at this track, which has hosted NASCAR races since 1949.
Adding to this moment is that Byron’s win came in the 40th anniversary celebration season for Hendrick Motorsports. The team had about 1,500 employees, family members and friends dressed in ruby shirts and hats, in tents outside of Turn 2 of the half-mile track.
Byron’s margin of victory over second-place Kyle Larson was 0.55 of a second.
With fellow Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott coming home third, the organization became the first ever to have its cars finish 1-2-3 in the 151 Cup Series races at Martinsville.
There were five caution periods for a total of 51 laps. Only 14 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Kyle Larson leaves Martinsville as the new championship leader with a 14-point advantage over second-place Martin Truex Jr.
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stewart-Haas Racing Finish:
- Ryan Preece (Started 22nd, Finished 9th / Running, completed 415 of 415 laps)
- Chase Briscoe (Started 5th, Finished 10th / Running, completed 415 of 415 laps)
- Noah Gragson (Started 26th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 414 of 415 laps)
- Josh Berry (Started 7th, Finished 25th / Running, completed 413 of 415 laps)
Steward Haa Racing Points:
- Chase Briscoe (16th with 188 points, 121 out of first)
- Josh Berry (23rd with 129 points, 180 out of first)
- Ryan Preece (26th with 112 points, 197 out of first)
- Noah Gragson (29th with 101 points, 208 out of first)
Ryan Preece earned his first top-10 of the season, and his first top-10 in 10 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville.
This was Preece’s best finish so far this year. His previous best was 14th, earned March 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
“We had a really good car. I wish we didn’t qualify so badly. I know the 24 (William Byron) started back there with us and he was able to get there probably with the help of a lot of things,” said Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “At Martinsville last year, we had a good car but we didn’t have that good of a car, but now we’re definitely working toward something. I’m really happy with the direction we’re going in and we’re working on, and we’re going to be a lot better moving forward.”
Preece’s ninth-place finish bettered his previous best result at Martinsville – 15th, earned last April.
This was Preece’s third straight top-20 at Martinsville. He finished 15th last April and 20th in the series’ prior visit to the track in October.
Chase Briscoe earned his third top-10 of the season and his fifth top-10 in seven career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville
This was Briscoe’s fifth straight result of 18th or better. He finished ninth on March 10 at Phoenix Raceway, and 13th March 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, 13th March 24 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, and 18th last Sunday at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
This was Briscoe’s fifth straight top-10 at Martinsville. In his past five NASCAR Cup Series starts at the .526-mile oval, Briscoe has finished ninth, ninth, fifth, fourth, and 10th.
He finished fourth in Stage 1, earning seven bonus points, and seventh in Stage 2, earning four more bonus points.
“It was kind of a frustrating day for us,” said Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “We ended up 10th, but we were definitely way better than 10th. We just couldn’t pass. We had not the greatest pit stop early in the race and lost some sports, and we were just kind of stuck anywhere from fifth to eighth for the rest of the race. I felt like if I ever could’ve gotten the lead, I would’ve been good enough to run up there, for sure. And then there at the end, we didn’t know if we should pit or not pit. We were kind of in a tough spot. We stayed out and lost two more spots. So, frustrating to run 10th. We definitely had better than a 10th-place racecar. This is how hard this Cup deal is. You’ve got to be perfect all race long. I made a couple of mistakes, and as a team, still, we just need to clean some stuff up. We’ll move on and continue with what speed we have. That’s encouraging. We just need to execute.”
Briscoe led once for eight laps to bring his laps-led total at Martinsville to 142.
Noah Gragson’s 20th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Martinsville – 25th, earned in October 2022.
“Started out struggling with the balance of the car, went a lap down, and during the second stage got the ‘Lucky Dog’ and started rolling pretty good,” said Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “It just seemed like the track changed a lot with the rubber being laid down. We found a good balance to start the run, but to end the run it gets super loose. But still proud of everybody on the Overstock team. It’s not our standard, but we’ll keep working to get there. It was a tough race, but had a lot of fun, too.”
Berry finished ninth in Stage 1 to earn two bonus points and 10th in Stage 2 to earn one additional bonus point.
“The car was fun. The field basically ran the same speed, and you just can’t pass,” said Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 50th Anniversary Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400, which will be held on Sunday, April 14, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT and will be covered live by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
