Ryan Blaney on William Byron's shove to win at Martinsville: 'I would have done the same thing'

Ryan Blaney came oh so close to winning Sunday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. Close, however, was never gonna do it if Blaney wanted to race for a second NASCAR Cup Series championship next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.

Unfortunately for Blaney, William Byron was the only driver better than him at Martinsville. With both drivers needing a win to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, the two combined to lead 481-of-500 laps. Byron led 304 of them and the last one.

The big moment came with under 50 laps to go. Blaney had control of the race but in his own words, “was fading quick.” Byron saw an opening, and he took it. Byron made contact with Blaney going into Turn 1, muscling his way on by for the race lead. Blaney had no issue with the move, saying he would have done the same thing.

“I look back on that long run before the last yellow. William got by me and I just got loose. Two lap cars and my drive was fading quick. I tried to manage but just was starting to fade. I was trying to protect and yeah, that’s just two guys going for it,” Blaney told NBC Sports. “I don’t blame him for taking that. I kind of lost momentum and I would have done the same thing, to be honest with you. I knew it was gonna be tight and I tried to crowd as much as I could.”

THERE'S CONTACT!!@WilliamByron takes the lead! pic.twitter.com/OddwgtXYEk

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 26, 2025

Ryan Blaney falls short at Martinsville

Blaney had one more opportunity to get by Byron after a Carson Hocevar spin brought out the final caution. He started on the outside of Byron with 11 laps remaining, but Byron cleared him off Turn 2. Byron drove away to take the win, as well as the Championship 4 spot.

Team Penske, winners of the last three championships, will not be racing for a championship this year at Phoenix. Joey Logano, like Blaney, was eliminated at Martinsville.

It’s a bummer for Blaney, but he’s proud of his team’s effort, especially after they qualified 31st and had to drive through the field. Byron was just better.

“To start where we did and make up the ground that we did was really impressive. They gave me a good car and getting the lead was great,” Blaney said. “The 24 was just a little better than us at the end. I seemed to lose a little rear drive quicker than he did, and he was able to keep it longer than me until he got the lead. I thought he got a good restart on the last one. Kind of entered up top trying to carry speed, and he just rolled around me on the bottom. It was pretty impressive.

“Proud of the effort. It’s a shame we’re not going to Phoenix as part of the Championship 4, but we’ll be doing the best we can to finish the year out strong. But I’m just proud of the 12 guys. They gave 100% of what they had and that’s all you can ever ask for. Just not quite enough tonight, but we move on.”