William Byron punched his ticket to the Championship 4 in commanding fashion, seizing the third playoff berth with a dominant performance at Martinsville. While Kyle Larson advanced on points, just the way he envisioned it, Byron ended his three-week skid in style, steering the No. 24 Chevrolet to win when it mattered most.
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After finishing 11th at the Roval, 36th at Las Vegas, and 25th at Talladega, Byron turned it all around under pressure, leading 304 of 500 laps, a career-high, and taking the checkered flag by 0.717 seconds over Ryan Blaney in the 2025 Xfinity 500.
With both drivers needing a win to advance, the #24 HMS driver took control on Lap 456 during a long green-flag run and never looked back, pacing the field for the final 44 laps to secure his spot in the Nov. 2 finale at Phoenix Raceway.
“Feels super sweet,” Byron said after climbing from his car. “The dejection of the last couple [of] weeks has been hard. Honestly, it’s tested me, it’s tested this team a lot, and it’s easy to kind of mail it in and be like, ‘Well, it’s just not going to work out.'”
“But these guys kept working, and I’ve been kind of internally motivated and focused on certain things, and just keeping, honestly, keeping centered, and just kind of keeping the faith. So it’s been an amazing couple of weeks, and just excited about today.”
Byron explained that his approach this week felt like a puzzle finally coming together. “It felt like all week it was just one more piece of information, one more piece of information. In some ways, I didn’t work as hard this week; I actually gave myself some rest. But in other ways, I was working really hard for it,” he said.
😎 "I felt in a really good headspace when I got here to the racetrack […] it just felt so good."@WilliamByron was feeling good since the they unloaded off the truck and put in a near flawless performance at @MartinsvilleSwy to win their way into the #Championship4. pic.twitter.com/hjYsxAgYpO
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) October 26, 2025
The Charlotte native credited a calm mindset for the breakthrough. “I felt in a really good headspace when I got here to the racetrack […] it just felt good. So I hope I can carry that mojo into next week and just keep chasing it. Nothing is guaranteed in this deal, so you just gotta go out there and put your best effort forward and do all the little things right. And hopefully it’s meant to be,” he added.
Byron hopes to raise the bar even higher next week. Reflecting on his Martinsville win, he said that from start to finish, it was the best he had ever felt behind the wheel, “and that’s a damn good feeling.”
The season, he admitted, has been filled with hard work and heartbreak, especially after the 600, but he managed to turn that pain into fuel. What leaves scars for some became Byron’s turning point, as he flipped the script when it mattered most in the playoffs. Now, it all comes down to a heavyweight show at Phoenix, Joe Gibbs Racing versus Hendrick Motorsports for NASCAR’s ultimate prize.
