NASCAR Cup Series
Martinsville Speedway
Round of Eight: Elimination Race
Team Chevy Post-Race Report
October 26, 2025
Byron, Larson Set to Represent Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Four
- Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron turned in a career run at Martinsville Speedway to earn his third win of the season and his third-straight trip to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Four. His third career Martinsville clock came after a near dominate performance – claiming the pole position, a sweep of the stage wins and a tallying a race-high 304 laps en route to his chance at competing for his first championship title in NASCAR’s top division.
- With a top-five finish, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson will have the opportunity to compete for his second career NASCAR Cup Series Championship – delivering Chevrolet two spots in next weekend’s title-deciding race.
- Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to have the opportunity to compete for the championship in all three series, with JR Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing powering the manufacturer to a sweep of the Championship Four positions in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Tyler Ankrum representing the Bowtie brand in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title-deciding race.
- For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, William Byron earned the pole position at Martinsville Speedway to lead the field to the green-flag in Sunday’s Xfinity 500. With one last chance to punch a ticket into the Championship Four, the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Byron and Kyle Larson took over the top-two positions at the drop of the green-flag. While the pair settled into position, teammate Chase Elliott made a quick march up the leaderboard – already taking over the third position by Lap 25. With the first caution flag of the day falling just two laps later, all three Team Chevy playoff contenders were called to pit road for a four-tire stop. Electing the outside lane for the restart, Byron found his way back in command with 95 laps to go in the opening stage. Resuming their positions in the top-three, the Team Chevy playoff trio pulled to a nearly three-second lead by the halfway mark in Stage One as they approached lap traffic for the first time. Quickly finding his footing in traffic, Byron started to build a cushion over Larson as the long green-flag run continued. Continuing caution-free to the green-white checkered flag, Byron’s stellar opening stage saw the 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native lead all 130 laps and lap up to the 14th position en route to the stage win – leading all three Team Chevy playoff contenders to top-five stage points.
- After a trip to pit road under the stage break, the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet regained control on the opening lap of Stage Two. Continuing to hold strong in command, Byron progressively pulled away to a 2.5-second lead as the battle for second ensued, which saw the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet take the position with under 50 laps to go in the stage – just in time for the second natural caution of the race to fall. Faced with a set of late-stage restarts, it was no contest for Byron as the Hendrick Motorsports driver went on to sweep the stage wins. Mirroring the Stage One results, Byron’s teammates also earned back-to-back top-five points to set up the final run to the checkered-flag.
- Looking for an adjustment to help maneuver through lap traffic, Byron led the field to pit road under the stage break with crew chief, Rudy Fugle, making the call for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Lining up on the third row for the restart, Byron quickly went back to work – progressively clicking off positions to find himself in the third position by Lap 317. Varying pit strategies under the stage break put Larson in the eighth position for the start of the final stage – putting the battle on the bubble at a single-digit margin. As the race approached the 100-lap countdown, the race for the lead saw two playoff drivers in a “must-win” position to keep their title hopes alive, including Byron, who trailed then-race leader, Ryan Blaney, within a one-second margin. Controlling the bottom lane in turn one on Lap 457, Byron cleared Blaney to take the lead back – ultimately going on to take the checkered flag and a berth into the Championship Four.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos. Driver
1st – William Byron
3rd – Chase Elliott
4th – Ross Chastain
5th – Kyle Larson
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 35 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 15
Poles: 13
Top-Fives: 65
Top 10s: 140
Stage Wins: 27
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will conclude at Phoenix Raceway with the Championship Race on Sunday, November 2, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 4th
“There was a time where when we did the choose for the restart, there was only one car behind us. And then at the end, there was only two cars in front of us. Definitely both ends of the spectrum today for this No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet team. The left side’s torn up from the first-half of the race because we struggled. We were getting beat up pretty bad. We went a lap down; made some good adjustments when we took the wave around. It was a free pit stop, per say, later and Phil Surgen (crew chief) did a bunch of adjustments and it brought the car back to life. We caught that caution, which took us from around 10th into the top-five.”
What do you feel like this Martinsville race produced today?
“I think we just watched William Byron cement himself into the championship race. As a kid, I remember watching the No. 24 car win and dominate here. To be buddies with William now, I saw at the end of the race a guy go and solidify himself in that car for a very long time, not that there was any question about that.
Really cool for Chevrolet to go do that and beat the No. 12 car (Ryan Blaney) here. At a flat track, it’s hard to do these days, but the No. 24 car just flat-out drove by him on the long-run and held him off on the short-run at the end. As a friend, that was really, really cool to watch.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 16th
“We battled hard today. It was an eventful day for our Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Waterfowl Chevrolet but this No. 3 team just kept grinding it out. We kept our heads down, made the next best decision and got our balance in a really good spot in the second half of the race. Proud of the effort, and we will look to finish our season strong next week in Phoenix.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
Was that stressful and how do you think the No. 5 team handled today?
“I think it was a little less stressful because I recognized that we were better than Christopher (Bell). We were in front of him all day, so I knew if we had a good first stage that the math was going to be much easier. I just had to keep him in my sights at that point. The No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet team just did a great job. We didn’t have any hiccups. I definitely could have had better restarts, but like I said, I had out-scored Christopher, so I was just playing it a little easier; tuck in line and go from there. We had a good long-run car.
Happy to be in the Championship Four. Really proud of William (Byron). That was a hell of a drive. We have two Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet’s going for the championship and hopefully we can do it for Rick (Hendrick).”
What’s your early outlook on the competition for the Championship Four next weekend?
“I don’t know… Denny (Hamlin) was good at Phoenix earlier this year. The No. 19 (Chase Briscoe) has gotten better as they’ve gotten comfortable with each other, so I’m sure he’ll be really strong. He’s tough. He can figure out how to get to the front. William, after a performance like that tonight, he’s going to carry a lot of confidence into next weekend. We have confidence in ourselves. I feel like the No. 5 team was decent there earlier this season, and I think our short-track package has gotten way better. I feel like at Gateway, we were really strong. And then at New Hampshire, we were probably a little bit better than the Gibb’s cars and maybe my teammates for a lot of the race. We’ll see. I’m just glad we have an opportunity to go out there and race for a championship.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 13th
“After a strong qualifying effort with the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet, we battled a tight center that led us to go a lap down early in the race. The entire Richard Childress Racing team made adjustments throughout the race that not only got us back on the lead lap, but had us inside the Top 10 at race’s end. We leave Martinsville Speedway with a 13th-place finish, and will look to Phoenix next week with our focus on concluding the season with a win.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 3rd
What else could you have done with your car in those final laps?
“Just be positioned better. Obviously, those final laps get tough when the guys out front have a big advantage when the track cleans off like that. It was just going to be difficult. I was just hoping, in my position, to get to a spot where I could maybe capitalize if something crazy happened.
Outside of that, we just got a little too far behind at the three-quarter mark. We got caught a lap down in the cycle, and then from there, we were just kind of playing catch-up. We just weren’t quite good enough, truthfully. William (Byron) and the No. 24 team did a great job and capitalized on a fast Saturday; put themselves in a good spot and got it done.”
What can you take away from this season going into Phoenix next weekend?
“I feel like we’ve had some of our best races over the last month, which is a lot of fun to end the year strong and be up there in the mix a lot more. I’m proud of that and the fight all day today and throughout the week. The effort everybody at Hendrick Motorsports put into these cars and just trying to bring our very best here, I thought we did that. Unfortunately, we just came up short. But fortunately, we got two cars into the Championship Four and hopefully one of them can get it done.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
William, could you pick a better spot for your first-ever walk-off win?
“No. Damn, I got a lot to say (smiling). Things have a way of working out. God really tests your resilience a lot of times. We’ve been tested. Just unbelievable. I watched my first NASCAR race up there just before the start/finish line. Man, I am just so thankful, excited to see my family and just celebrate this one.”
You mentioned all that you have been through and this team has been through. Have you ever been through more emotional swings in 10 weeks to get to this point?
“No. I mean, we just worked so hard, all these guys work so hard. You put everything into Sunday’s. Sometimes you don’t get anything in return. That’s been the last couple weeks. Honestly, throughout the year, we had some close calls. But sometimes life is that way. You just have to keep being resilient, and this No. 24 team did that.”
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