Byron leads 212 laps on the way to his second NASCAR Cup win of 2022.
Jared C. TiltonGetty Images
- Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott leads the first 185 laps and sweeps the stages.
- Byron was cruising to victory until a crash five laps from the end set up a green-white-checkered flag finish.
- Joey Logano grabs second but comes up short of is first win of 2022.
For much of Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup series Blue-Emu 400 at Martinsville Speedway, it seemed like pole-winner Chase Elliott might just lap the field, lead every lap, and get his long-awaited first Cup Series victory of the season.
Then, for a long spell in the second half, it seemed like Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron might lead the rest of the way for his second victory this year. And even though things got a bit jammed-up toward the end, Byron withstood an overtime green-white-checkered restart to win the 400-lap race on the half-mile track in what felt like mid-winter conditions.
NASCAR Martinsville Cup Race Results
A caution for a single-car accident with five laps remaining erased Byron’s relatively comfortable lead and sent the race into overtime. But in the two-lap overtime sprint (laps 400-403), he held off Joey Logano, who had no serious problem getting by second-restarting Austin Dillon. If not for the last of four cautions, Dillon would have finished second and Logano third.
Instead, Dillon finished third, behind Byron and Logano, but ahead of top-10 finishers Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and teammate Kurt Busch, younger brother Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe, and Elliott. The race was milder than some drivers had predicted; several had suggested on Friday the new Next Gen car was durable enough to handle more beating and banging than usual at the tight, little track. On the contrary, there was hardly any contact at all as the race was mostly a single-file parade for more than two-and-a-half hours.
Logano, winless this year, didn’t seriously second-guess his driving manners during the overtime. “I could have tried to hit him harder; that might have been what I needed,” he said. “But he did a good job of executing up front on the restart. I was able to get to him because he made a mistake off (Turn) four taking the white flag.
“I thought, ‘OK, this is my chance.’ I got to him and kind of rooted him up a little bit and then he came back down and just brake-checked me pretty good … as he should. I’m not mad about that. He should do that.”
Byron was well aware of what could have happened with Logano restarting right behind him. Unlike a half-dozen others, both of them chose not to pit for tires with during the caution just before the final restart.
“I knew when that last caution came out that we were probably (okay),” Byron said. “I thought everyone behind us would pit and luckily, we stayed out. We were aggressive; we felt like we could refire on the tires and be okay (even with) one of the most aggressive guys behind us in Logano. I chattered the tires in Turns 3 and 4 and left the bottom open, but I was able to block my exits and get a good drive off.”
After starting from the pole, Elliott led all 185 laps through the first two stages: 80 laps in Stage 1 and 105 in Stage 2. But Byron’s team got him off pit road quicker during the caution marking the end of Stage 2. He was never seriously challenged in leading laps 186-303, then 94 of the final 100.
Saturday night’s victory must be considered something of a surprise. Byron, who had never won more than once a year since coming to Cup full-time in 2015, won near Atlanta in March. That was just his third career victory; Saturday night was his fourth in 152 career starts, his first on a short track. At 24, he is NASCAR’s only double winner through eight starts this year.
Keyword: How William Byron Won the NASCAR Cup Race at Martinsville