William Byron reacts to Martinsville win, clinching spot in Championship 4 at Phoenix
When William Byron was 8 years old, his parents took him to Martinsville Speedway to see his first NASCAR race. Byron was in the stands that day but on Sunday, he was strapped inside the No. 24 Chevrolet, racing for a chance to compete for his first Cup Series championship next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
The objective was simple: go to Martinsville and win the race. It was the only way for Byron to clinch his spot in the Championship 4. With everything on the line, Byron put together the race of his career. He led 304 laps from the pole, beating Ryan Blaney to the start/finish line by 0.717 seconds to win his third race of the season.
“God really tests your resilience a lot of the time and we’ve been tested. Just unbelievable. I’m out of breath,” Byron told Marty Snider of NBC Sports. “Thank you fans for coming out, badass crowd. I watched my first NASCAR race up there. Man, I am just so thankful. Excited to see my family and celebrate this one and obviously, go to Phoenix. Just gonna go try and kick ass there.”
William Byron muscles his way through to Championship 4
All day long, it was clear that Byron and Blaney had the two fastest cars. Byron had the advantage of starting up front, while Blaney had to come through the field after qualifying 31st. The two drivers, who both needed a win to make the Championship 4, combined to lead 481-of-500 laps.
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Blaney had control of the race in Stage 3 but with less than 50 laps to go, Byron went for it. Byron made contact with Blaney going into Turn 1, muscling his way on by for the race lead. Byron never relinquished it, even after one final late restart as a result of a Carson Hocevar spin.
One more win at Phoenix and Byron will become a champion. Rounding out the Championship 4 are Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Kyle Larson.
“You just work so hard. All these guys work so hard, and you put everything into Sundays,” Byron said. “Sometimes, you don’t get anything in return and that’s been the last couple weeks and honestly, throughout the year we’ve had some close calls. Sometimes, life is that way, but you just got to keep being resilient and we were. It just feels damn good.”