MARTINSVILLE, Va.— On Saturday, William Byron had a feeling that the final race in the Round of 8 was not going to be a cakewalk.
After qualifying 16th at Martinsville Speedway, Byron was down. He had a sense of dread, knowing his car wasn’t capable of winning.
He understood the challenge of fighting from mid-pack in the Xfinity 500 with the Championship 4 on the line. But to remain in the title hunt, Byron had to find another gear—and he did.
“I just had a gut feeling that we weren’t where we needed to be,” Byron said. “But you’re hopeful that you can battle in the top 10 and try to get your way up there. We just didn’t go forward at the beginning of the race. We went backwards. Then we were in the 18-22nd range.
“I know my team knew that. They knew the car was off. We just stuck with it and tried to get the most we could. They stuck by me. Yeah, I wasn’t my normal self this weekend. I was nervous because I just didn’t have the feel in the car that I wanted in practice. I’ve run enough races to know that. But we dug really deep today.”
Although Byron finished 13th, one lap down, he was able to advance to the final four for the first time in his six-year Cup career.
“Just drove the hell out of it for the last 30 laps,” Byron said. “We were sliding all around, but that’s what it took.”
Byron’s closest competition to a transfer spot on Sunday was veteran Denny Hamlin. After winning Stage 1, Hamlin was in the top four on the Playoff grid and Byron, who was running 12th on Lap 131, was out. He was 18th to start the second stage.
Trying to maintain track position was difficult. On Lap 155, Byron was knocked out of line after Tyler Reddick went sideways. Byron dropped to 24th. When asked what he needed to improve his drive, the driver replied that the team needed to change all four springs and shocks or they were just wasting their time.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle Byron faced was the lack of fresh, cool air blowing through his helmet in an uncharacteristically 80-degree October day. After Martin Truex Jr., was busted for speeding during Lap 220 pit stops followed by an extended pit stop at the end of Stage 2, the No. 19 was out of contention. Byron finished 20th in the second stage and had to dig deep for the final 230 laps.
“I wanted to know everything I could,” Byron said of the points situation. Since the Coca-Cola 600 in May, the No. 24 Hendrick team had fluctuated between leading the point standings and third. Martinsville was going to become a game of track position, particularly with the speed Hamlin exhibited throughout the race.
“The guys around me were changing a lot,” Byron added. “I just wanted to know what was going on—and the guys did a really good job of letting me know what was going on.”
Race winner Ryan Blaney was leading on Lap 323 when Michael McDowell spun to trigger the seventh and final caution. Blaney pitted along with Hamlin and shook up the field. Byron was 22nd—just nine positions behind Hamlin. Despite Hamlin’s on-track advantage, he was fifth in the standings with Byron second with 168 laps to decide the contest.
Over the final 100 laps, Byron kept grinding. He climbed into the top 15 but with Blaney’s speed, the No. 12 Ford passed Byron with 13 laps remaining.
Still, his 13th-place result allowed Byron to finish with an eight-point advantage over Hamlin.
“Just total focus on everything he had and every little bit of energy he had,” said crew chief Rudy Fugle. “You could see it at the end of the race when he got out of the car. He did everything. He willed us to win today.
“Just disappointed and kind of embarrassed on how the car performed today, but the team stuck with it. And we’ve got a shot next week. So a little bit somber right now but still excited. Kind of bittersweet day. We’ll get through it quick and get ready for Phoenix.”
Byron collapsed on the pit road wall following the race, completely spent. While Martinsville didn’t go as planned, the 25-year-old racer is confident entering Championship 4 week at Phoenix Raceway, having won at the track in March.
“We can turn it around,” Byron said. “At Phoenix, we have to trust in what we’ve done in the past. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do this week—look at a lot of notes. But we’ve won there at the past and I think that we’ll be good.”
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