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William Byron earns clutch win at Martinsville over Ryan Blaney, advances to Championship 4

JHby: Jonathan Howard10/26/25Jondean25
William Byron Martinsville win
Mandatory Credit: Greg Atkins-Imagn Images

Pole position, more than 300 laps led, fighting off Ryan Blaney on a late restart – William Byron did it all and more today at Martinsville. The 24 car has had many legendary moments at the Paperclip. This time, Byron advances to the NASCAR Championship 4.

This is the third time that we have seen William Byron win at Martinsville. It is his first time winning the fall race. On top of that, this is only the second time that Byron has won in the playoffs in his career.

When Byron earned the pole on Saturday, I wondered if he could get his signature playoff moment. He hadn’t done it yet. The 24 team, and driver, stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park. Onto Phoenix.

This race was going to go to either Ryan Blaney or William Byron. These are two drivers who are still early in their careers and they have both had great success at Martinsville. It would have been nice to see the tires fall off a litle bit more, but this was one of the best races at Martinsville in this car. It is slowly moving in the right direction.

Any time a driver leads 304 laps in a race, it is domination. Byron was tested tonight with long green flag runs, short runs, and a late restart. He even got physical in order to take the lead from Blaney, using his door to get the 12 car up the track and make the pass on the inside.

Once Byron got hold of the lead from that move, he was gone. There wasn’t much anyone was going to be able to do to beat him in this race.

William Byron advances to third straight Championship 4

This is the third year in a row that William Byron has advanced to the Championship 4. He has now matched his 2024 win total. If he is able to get the win in Phoenix, it will be his second season breaking the three-win mark.

Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney were all eliminated tonight. I think Bell, Elliott, and Blaney were all strong drivers the entire season. Logano was starting to look like he was pulling off another late-season run in the playoffs.

Still, the four drivers that we are left with – William Byron, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, and Denny Hamlin are all elite. These are four of the best drivers this season, and all of them are worthy of being a NASCAR champion.

It has been a long 38-week season. We are finally at the end, with one week left until the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion is crowned. Who will it be?