Byron defends Xfinity 500 Martinsville win in Dominating fashion

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — William Byron successfully defends his NASCAR Cup Series’ Xfinity 500 win with a perfect day from Martinsville Speedway.

This is his first win of the season and his 17th victory of his career.

What a dominating performance for Byron to avoid a winless season. He ualified in eighth and eventually found the lead after he and crew chief Rudy Fugle gambled on the correct strategy in the opening stage.

Even with the aided strategy call, his speed would not be denied. Byron swept both stages and had the fastest lap in collecting his fourth Cup Series Martinsville clock.

To further exemplify his dominant day, he led a race-high 362 laps and led more than double the laps tonight than in his entire 2026 season to snap his 35-race winless streak.

One of the longest green flag runs that Martinsville has seen in quite some time occurred as well in the final stage. The entire final stage went by without a caution with Byron controlling the field for all 300 of them.

With the perfect 76-point day, Byron jumps to ninth in the standings. He sits only six points behind Gibbs in ninth.

The Top Ten

Chase Elliott trailed his teammate to the checkered flag. Elliott failed to sweep the Martinsville victories this season but continues his incredible results at the speedway.

His second place run marks his sixth straight top five finish here, all after October of 2023.

Ty Gibbs delivered a solid top five weekend overall. He qualified on the front row from second and never truly fell outside of the top three positions. He gained the second-most points on the day in his third-placed run.

Then a pair of non-Chase drivers occupied the final two top five positions. Josh Berry wheeled his Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 to fourth for another impressive Chase result.

Shane van Gisbergen continues to show his immense progress on oval tracks with a great overall team performance for fifth.

Denny Hamlin failed to capture stage points at all in the Xfinity 500. He did finish ahead of Larson in sixth and will race for a championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway albeit 70 points behind.

Austin Dillon was a pleasant surprise inside the top ten on the lead lap at the paperclip. Dillon captured his fifth top ten result of the season from seventh.

Bubba Wallace ran inside the top five late but slid a few positions to finish eighth as the first car one lap down.

Kyle Larson joined Hamlin on their wrong strategy call in the first stage. He fell a lap down early and was unable to earn a single stage point because of it. Larson eventually rebounded to finish a lap down in ninth and will head to the final race of the season with a comfortable cushion in front.

The Chase lead is now 67 points for him. He crucially grabbed two additional points in the final ten laps over the driver who finished behind him, Christopher Bell.

Bell scored eighth stage points but suffered a speeding penalty and a spin to finish a lap down in tenth.

Notable Results

With William Byron’s clinic today, very few drivers leaves Virginia in a good mood.

Tyler Reddick gets eliminated from championship contention after he finished 11th. The same goes for Chase Briscoe who finished in 14th and Joey Logano who finished two laps down in 18th.

Ryan Blaney was also eliminated from championship contention after suffering major nose damage off the brake-checking Josh Berry. He was sidelined in the garage for repairs and finished 59 laps down in 35th.

His teammate Austin Cindric suffered a similar fate when Carson Hocevar, who could not find speed all weekend, brake-checked him twice in two corners for the same type of damage but more severe. He DNF’d in 36th.

Below is the full results and updated Chase standings after the ninth race of the Chase from Martinsville Speedway.

Full Results & Chase Standings

Below is the archive of live updates on the ninth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase from Martinsville Speedway.

WINNER: William Byron

CHECKERED FLAG: William Byron caps off a dominating day to win the Xfinity 500 from Martinsville Speedway!

WHITE FLAG: William Byron gets back to the white flag en route to his first victory of 2026!

Kyle Larson passes Bell for an additional point in the Chase!

10 TO GO: Byron has extended his lead over Elliott to two seconds now! He can drive nearly uncontested to the checkered flag without any caution.

18 TO GO: The lapped-car of Daniel Suarez takes away valuable track space from Elliott as there are now three cars between the two.

20 TO GO: William Byron laps Bubba Wallace in eighth. Elliott is now back under a second to the lead.

30 TO GO: Elliott’s push for the lead has stagnated. He is still around one second and one car between his teammate for the win.

Bell goes a lap down from ninth.

40 TO GO: The gap is exactly one second between the top two as both continue to gap Ty Gibbs in third.

Denny Hamlin gets around his driver Bubba Wallace for sixth.

45 TO GO: Elliott has took another huge chunk out of Byron’s lead. He is now back under one second behind.

van Gisbergen and his team have nailed the strategy as he jumps both Hamlin and Wallace for fifth.

47 TO GO: Kyle Larson has gone a lap down in tenth to teammate William Byron.

50 TO GO: The lights have come on and the fan favorite driver has too. He sits 1.1 seconds behind Byron.

Austin Dillon has had a sneaky good race. He sits on the lead lap in ninth and about to pass Christopher Bell for eighth.

55 TO GO: Here comes Chase Elliott! His deficit to the leader is now 1.3 seconds behind as Byron needs finally clears Tyler Reddick.

60 TO GO: Byron’s lead has been cut by another half-second! Elliott encroaches on his teammate and is only 1.7 seconds behind.

68 TO GO: Briscoe and Logano pit as they run long and could not get the caution they desperately hoped for.

70 TO GO: Byron is looking to re-lap Reddick and lap Larson with a 2.5 second lead to Chase Elliott behind from second place.

74 TO GO: William Byron cycles back around to the lead. He passes Chase Briscoe on track for it as the No. 19 will extend his stop again.

77 TO GO: In what looks to be his most complete race of the year, Ross Chastain also leads one lap in the cycle and pits.

78 TO GO: After leading for a lap, Ty Gibbs also comes down for what could be his final pit stop of the day. SVG also pits.

79 TO GO: The leader William Byron pits!

80 TO GO: Chase Elliott pits from second place. Bubba Wallace joins him this lap too.

82 TO GO: Berry pits as the leader is radioed in to potentially go longer on this set of tires than others.

Hamlin pits too.

84 TO GO: Just like that! Christopher Bell is the first driver to pit from tenth.

85 TO GO: Final pit stops are about to come up. Byron leads Elliott by over four seconds now. Gibbs is closing in on him for third. Then Chastain, Berry, van Gisbergen, Wallace, Hamlin, Dillon and Bell are your top ten.

90 TO GO: Bell is falling like a rock. He has slipped to below Hamlin and Larson and Austin Dillon closes in for ninth as the leader gets ever closer to lapping them.

95 TO GO: Berry passes Wallace for a spot inside the top five from fifth. van Gisbergen gets seventh from Bell as well.

100 TO GO: Byron has lapped up to Tyler Reddick in 12th, who is the last car on the lead lap.

Suarez, who just went two laps down, has the nose of his car pushed up from contact earlier.

110 TO GO: Shane van Gisbergen is dogging Denny Hamlin for eighth on the track. Byron leads by 1.5 seconds now. Can he deliver his first win of the season as the lights start to turn on inside the track.

120 TO GO: Byron leads by around one second over Elliott and led his 245th lap.

130 TO GO: Josh Berry has been climbing through the top ten. He passes Larson, Hamlin, and Tyler Reddick to be back in seventh place.

135 TO GO: Chase Elliott is keeping his teammate in touching distance for the lead and potential race victory. He is a half second behind with Ty Gibbs a further three seconds behind them in third.

144 TO GO: Briscoe finally pits with Byron retaining the lead once more.

Both Hamlin and Larson are now running inside the top ten from eighth and ninth.

LAP 350: Chase Briscoe is the only driver who has not pitted. He leads Byron, Elliott, Gibbs, and Bubba Wallace in the top five.

LAP 347: Joey Logano returns to pit road to tighten a loose wheel! Logano did not need that as he will lose out on valuable points.

LAP 342: Here comes the leader William Byron down pit road and he brings Joey Logano with him.

LAP 341: Chase Elliott now pits from second.

LAP 340: Ty Gibbs pits from fourth. Byron, Elliott, and Logano remain on track as the leaders.

LAP 338: Now Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace pit from the top ten.

LAP 337: Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson pit together.

LAP 336: Tyler Reddick is the first driver to pit for this cycle.

LAP 330: Pit stops will commence shortly. Byron still leads with Elliott, Logano, Gibbs, Chastain, Wallace, Berry, Bell, Gilliland, and now Shane van Gisbergen as the top ten before the field jumbles up once again.

LAP 320: Byron laps Zane Smith to bring the lead lappers back down to 20 drivers.

LAP 310: Byron maintains a near one second lead over Elliott.

Ryan Blaney is now back on track.

LAP 300: The fall Martinsville race is anything but a sprint. 200 laps remain as Byron stretches his lead subtly over Elliott.

LAP 290: AJ Allmendinger currently holds the free pass in 22nd position. Byron still leads Elliott by two car-lengths and Logano by a further two more.

LAP 280: Byron leads Elliott still. Logano, Gibbs and Chastain are your top five.

Austin Cindric is done for the day with his 36th-placed DNF because of Carson Hocevar.

LAP 271: Byron leads Elliott back to green.

Both Ryan Blaney and Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric are in the garage both fixing their front bumpers.

LAP 264: CAUTION! Cody Ware is around in turns one and two.

Zane Smith with the free pass as the four drivers who gambled on the wave-around gets to pit with their lead lap status returned to them.

LAP 263: Byron leads Elliott back around to lead the first green lap of the final stage. He has led the most laps today.

LAP 261: Both Hamlin and Larson fail to score stage points. The No. 5’s Chase lead is at 66 points over Bell as they run.

LAP 260: William Byron wins the race off pit road. He will restart next to Chase Elliott on the front row for the final stage. Logano, Gibbs, Chastain, Wallace, Berry, Gilliland, Bell, and Reddick are the top ten for the restart.

Chase Briscoe earns the free pass as four others take the wave-around to complete the now 20-car lead-lap drivers.

Stage Two Winner: William Byron

LAP 254: Ryan Blaney suffers massive damage after slamming into the back of Josh Berry! He then goes around in the next corner because of the damage.

William Byron wins the stage six laps early. He leads Elliott, Gibbs, Chastain, Logano, Wallace, Berry, Gilliland, Reddick, and Bell is the top ten.

LAP 250. Ten to go in the second stage now. Chase Elliott is keeping William Byron honest for his potential stage sweep.

Logano runs fifth looking for an incredible 15-straight top ten finishes at the track in the Cup Series.

LAP 240: 20 laps to go in the stage as the previous 20 laps have turned the race upside-down. Byron leads with Elliott two car-lengths behind. Gibbs is third a further four car-lengths behind them.

LAP 233: Stage one winner Byron continues his lead over Elliott after the restart.

Kyle Larson passes Denny Hamlin for 13th!

LAP 230: Restart looming. Byron still leads over Elliott. Then the top ten consists of Chastain, Gibbs, Logano, Gilliland, Berry, Wallace, Reddick, and Alex Bowman.

Shane van Gisbergen earns the free pass.

LAP 225: CAUTION! Preece looses the car in front of the field as he loses his right-rear wheel from fourth!

LAP 220: William Byron will lead the field back to green with his teammate Chase Elliott besides him in second. Preece, Chastain, Gilliland, Gibbs, Wallace, Logano, Reddick, and Josh Berry comprise the top ten.

LAP 217: Ross Chastain is the first of the lead lap cars to pit as many cars behind them either take the wave-around or pit.

LAP 216: CAUTION!! Big Chase implications!!! Bell and Hamlin have both spun together into turn one as Joey Logano clears both of them out.

They give Kyle Larson some life as he earns the free pass.

LAP 212: Austin Cindric gets brake-checked by Hocevar twice! Major nose damage to the front of the No. 2!

LAP 210: 50 laps remain in the second stage. Byron leads teammate Chase Elliott.

Larson is the first car one lap down with the best tires in the free pass position from 15th.

LAP 206: Byron leads Preece around to lead the first lap of the restart.

LAP 200: Bell gets caught speeding on pit road under yellow! What looked like a great day to climb back into second place in the Chase might not happen. The five other lead lap cars pit.

LAP 198: CAUTION! Carson Hocevar spins on the outside of leader William Byron! Only six cars are on the lead lap.

Ty Gibbs will earn the free pass just one position ahead of Kyle Larson who misses out!

LAP 197: Bell pits from third as Byron continues to lead.

LAP 192: Stage two green flag stops commence with Alex Bowman from the top ten. Hamlin also pits from 13th.

LAP 190: Ryan Preece has found his way around Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell as his long run car has been by far the best of the field today.

Byron closes in on Suarez who could go a lap down soon to take Larson’s free pass position away.

LAP 180: Byron hits lapped-traffic as Hamlin finds his way back around Logano for 14th. Both of them will have to dig deep in order to get any stage points today.

LAP 170: Custer pits from 23rd to give Larson back the free pass position. Larson passes Chase Briscoe on track who runs in 17th, not for position.

LAP 165: William Byron laps Cole Custer which leaves Larson one position behind the free pass.

LAP 157: Byron leads, now its Bell around his teammate Gibbs for second. All three have a three second gap down to Preece in fourth.

LAP 148: The top five are single-file. Then. Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott run side-by-side for sixth. Byron leads as teammate Larson remains in the free pass position.

LAP 142: Byron leads Gibbs back around to lead the opening lap of the second stage.

LAP 136: William Byron wins the race off pit road. Ty Gibbs will restart alongside him to begin the stage. Then Bell, Preece, Bownan, Cindric, Elliott, Berry, Chastain, and Tyler Reddick consist of the top ten.

Denny Hamlin is on the lead lap down in 15th. Chase Briscoe is on the lead lap down in 20th. Finally, Kyle Larson is the first car one lap down in 24th.

LAP 133: Championship outlook as they run: Larson would not win the title today. He would leave here with a 53-point lead.

Stage One Winner: William Byron

LAP 130: William Byron wins the opening stage! He is followed to the stage end by Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Elliott.

Daniel Suarez will get the free pass as Kyle Larson is trapped a lap down!!

LAP 124: New leader! It’s the driver who is needing a first win this year and is currently the defending race winner. William Byron gets the lead from Ryan Preece just before the stage ends.

LAP 120: Ryan Preece still leads but its dwindling. Byron closes to two seconds behind.

LAP 118: That did not last long. The new tires have freight-trained the No.11. Both Hamlin and Larson will not earn stage points.

LAP 115: Kyle Larson will miss out on stage points! He has fallen outside the top ten as Denny Hamlin has 15 laps to hold out hope for points as well.

LAP 110: William Byron is flying! He has caught and passed Larson, Logano, and Hamlin and now sets his sights on a potential stage win.

Logano also takes the chance to pass Hamlin for third.

LAP 105: Hamlin is now seven seconds behind leader Preece. He is about to be passed by Joey Logano as the drivers who have serviced their cars starts to weave their way into the top ten around others who have not been down pit road yet.

LAP 95: William Byron is now up to fifth and making nearly a half second faster lap than leader Ryan Preece.

Only 12 cars are currently on the lead lap down to Austin Cindric in 12th.

LAP 90: Preece is out to over a one second lead now. Hamlin is looking to mirror the strategy of Larson and vice-versa.

Hamlin runs second with Larson in fourth.

LAP 84: New leader! Ryan Preece goes around Denny Hamlin as he get bogged down from lapped-traffic.

LAP 82: Only seven cars are on the lead lap as the leaders continue to stay out on the race track.

LAP 75: Ty Gibbs pits from third. Hamlin continues to lead.

LAP 70: Ryan Preece has closed to the bumper of the No. 11 for the lead! Only four drivers in the top ten have come down for service in the stage.

Joey Logano passes Kyle Larson for fourth.

LAP 63: William Byron becomes the first driver to pit from the top ten from sixth to split the stage in half.

LAP 62: Green flag pit stops have begun deeper in the field. Christopher Bell pits.

LAP 60: Hamlin leads Preece by nearly a second as Kyle Larson and Joey Logano approach the battle for third.

LAP 55: Carson Hocevar has been behind the eight-ball this weekend. He has gone backwards from his 25th starting position as the worst performing Chase driver so far in 26th.

Ryan Preece passes Ty Gibbs for second.

LAP 46: Denny Hamlin retakes the lead! Hamlin takes the lead into turn one from Gibbs as he struggles for pace. Third place Ryan Preece also closes in on the battle.

LAP 40: Leader Ty Gibbs has lapped up to 35th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as no one has made any passes within the top ten in a few laps.

LAP 30: Gibbs is starting to catch the rear of the field as Hamlin continues to close in.

Austin Cindric has fallen from fourth at the start of the race to now tenth.

LAP 20: Denny Hamlin is closing in on Gibbs for the lead. He sits two car lengths behind looking to regain the lead.

LAP 10: The field has gone mostly single-file. Gibbs leads Hamlin then Preece, Larson, and Logano. Austin Cindric is the first car double-wide with William Byron on his inside.

LAP 3: Ty Gibbs takes the lead after Hamlin misses the apex of the turns 3 & 4!

LAP 1: Denny Hamlin leads teammate Ty Gibbs around to lead the opening lap of the Xfinity 500 from Martinsville Speedway.

Race Info/Start

Denny Hamlin will start from the pole for the second time this season at Martinsville Speedway. He will look to hold off Kyle Larson from potentially clinching the championship today with a win on the paperclip.

He will share the front row with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs.

Larson will start from the second row directly behind Hamlin in third for his bid to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson to win consecutive series titles.

While Kyle Larson commands the point lead, five other Chase drivers who start behind him remain in contention for the championship.

Joey Logano will roll off a row behind the championship leader from fifth. Then. the final four still in contention will start from 11th-14th. Chase Briscoe lines up besides Tyler Reddick from the sixth row with Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell a row behind.

Milestones for the race today consist of Chris Buescher, who will make start No. 400 today and his 250th with RFK Racing. Then, Joey Logano will make his 650th career Cup Series start as well.

No drivers will drop to the rear of the 37-car field. Below is additional information for the Xfinity 500.

• Broadcast: NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Previous Winner: William Byron
• Distance: 500 laps / 500 miles
• Stages: 130/ 260 / 500
• Average time of race: 3:27:31
• Pit road speed: 30 mph
• Caution car speed: 35 mph
• Fuel Window: 175 laps

Starting Lineup

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