Byron, Larson get last spots in NASCAR title finale

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- With a Championship 4 spot on the line, William Byron put the bumper to Ryan Blaney to win at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday in the third-round finale of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Byron made his winning move with 43 laps remaining, seizing the bottom lane in Turn 1 and moving Blaney up the track by tagging him in the left rear.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver led the rest of the way and fended off Blaney on a restart with 11 laps remaining. Starting from the pole position, Byron led a race-high 304 of 500 laps for his third victory this season in the No. 24 Chevrolet.

Both drivers were in must-win situations to advance to the championship round.

Blaney, who was trying to win his third consecutive playoff race at Martinsville, came up one spot short despite qualifying 31st and leading 177 laps on the 0.526-mile oval.

Kyle Larson, Byron's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, captured the final championship-eligible berth in the season finale with a fourth-place finish that put him seven points ahead of Christopher Bell, who was seventh.

Byron and Larson advanced to face Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe in the title round Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway, where the championship will be awarded to the driver with the best finish of the four drivers who are split evenly between Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick.

Along with Bell and Blaney, third-place finisher Chase Elliott and defending series champion Joey Logano (eighth) also were eliminated from the playoffs.

With Blaney and Logano locked out of the Phoenix title race, Team Penske's streak of three consecutive Cup championships was snapped.

Hamlin and Briscoe both suffered engine failures during Sunday's race.

Hamlin, who opened the third round with a Las Vegas Motor Speedway victory to advance to the title race, was running second on the 334th lap when he pulled his sputtering No. 11 Toyota into the garage.

It was the third playoff race with a mechanical problem for Hamlin, who also needed a push from team members Saturday when his car failed to start in qualifying.

"I felt like the car was coming to us and was just starting to close in on Blaney," said Hamlin, who finished 35th after winning at Martinsville in March. "I didn't feel anything. The engine was running and then not. We'll work on it. I'm obviously concerned, but obviously nothing I can do about it. So we're going to have to live with it and hopefully we get lucky next week."

Briscoe finished last when his No. 19 Toyota lost power after 295 laps, but the JGR driver already had locked into the Championship 4 with his Oct. 19 victory at Talladega Superspeedway.

"Went to upshift and something happened," said Briscoe, who was running 12th before the failure. "Not really sure but next week is what it's all about anyway."