For quite a bit of time during the race at Martinsville on Sunday, it seemed like Ryan Blaney would win and secure a Cup Series Championship 4 spot. He had taken the lead following a restart on Lap 272 and maintained it for 177 laps. But William Byron had other plans.
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On Lap 457, with 43 laps remaining in the race, Byron, who looked dominant right through the race, took the bottom lane entering Turn 1 and shoved Blaney up the track by making contact with his car’s left rear. He took the lead and kept it through a restart with 11 laps remaining.
Tempers might have flared if this sequence had gone down on another day. However, both drivers had a Championship 4 spot on the line, and understood that such extreme moves were par for the course.
Byron told the press after the race that he hated having to make such a move. “I hate that we made contact. I think he was probably leaving just enough space, as well. I was going into the corner committed. That’s kind of fighting for space,” he said.
“Yeah, it’s hard racing. We both want to make the Championship 4. It’s a race win. It’s no ill will. It’s just kind of hard racing, racing for the win,” added Byron.
In what was a must-win race, Byron had started from the pole. And he led 304 of the 500 laps in the race in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro before sealing his victory with the pass over Blaney, beating him to the checkered flag by 0.717 seconds.
Blaney’s thoughts on the aggressive move
The No. 12 Team Penske driver had every reason to be angry after being shoved out of the lead. His one final shot to make it to the Championship 4 had been foiled, along with his dreams of becoming a two-time Cup Series champion. But Blaney remained calm and was rather empathetic.
“I was trying to protect. Yeah, I mean, that’s just two guys going for it. I don’t blame him for taking that. I have kind of lost momentum. I would have done the same thing, to be honest with you. I knew it was going to be tight. I tried to crowd as much as I could,” said Blaney.
The fact that Blaney couldn’t make it to the season finale at Phoenix is seen as a blessing by the other drivers. Had he competed, he would have been the clear favorite to win the championship.
But now, there is no clear favorite among Byron, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, and Denny Hamlin. This level playing field is bound to make for an interesting spectacle.
