Byron Back in NASCAR Cup Victory Lane After Surprising Martinsville Race

RIDGEWAY, Va. — William Byron broke through for his first win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season in a career-high Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

Byron won both stages and ran the fastest lap of the race en route to the win Sunday at Martinsville. He led a career-high 362 of 500 laps to snap a 35-race winless streak, dating back to the last fall Martinsville race before Sunday.

Byron is the second consecutive back-to-back winner of the fall Martinsville race. Before Byron secured back-to-back wins with Sunday's triumph, Ryan Blaney won the fall race in 2023 and 2024. Blaney also finished second to Byron last year.

Byron now has four Martinsville wins, all in the NextGen era. He also won the spring race in 2022 and 2024, in addition to his now two fall wins. He now ranks second on the Cup wins list at Martinsville among active drivers (first is Denny Hamlin, six wins) – and 10th all-time.

Hendrick had a great day with Chase Elliott finishing second to Byron. They also finished 1-2 in the second stage after Byron won the first stage, which went caution-free.

The first stage saw all four of the race's on-track lead changes. This happened after teams like Byron's, elected to pit during the stage and not run the whole stage with the same set. That set up the rest of the race that ran more in standard form.

MORE: Hendrick Coronation: William Byron Wins at Martinsville, Kyle Larson Ends the Title Suspense

STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 130): William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott.

The second stage featured four cautions. Carson Hocevar spun on lap 200, according to timing and scoring, which helped Kyle Larson who was trapped a lap down – and hurt championship competitor Denny Hamlin who had just pitted.

However, it helped another competitor – Christopher Bell – until he was caught speeding on pit road.

At least three teams accused Hocevar of intentionally spinning to bring out the caution and help his manufacturer teammate. On the subsequent restart, Hocevar caused issues for Austin Cindric – brake-checking him multiple times and causing race-ending damage.

Larson needed the free pass to get back on the lead lap during this time. He received it on lap 216 when Joey Logano bumped Bell into Hamlin and caused Bell and Hamlin to spin.

Another caution flew on lap 226 for Ryan Preece breaking a wheel and spinning. Then, the stage ended under caution after Ryan Blaney spun following a brake-check from Josh Berry. That led Blaney to a 35th-place finish, 59 laps down.

STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 253): William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry, Todd Gilliland, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell.

After a quick caution for Cody Ware spinning on lap 264, the race went green for 230 consecutive laps to the finish. No one touched William Byron, who only lost the lead during green-flag pit stops and won by 2.049 seconds.

TOP-10 FINISHERS: William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Shane van Gisbergen, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell.

Byron now has 17 career wins, tying Curtis Turner and Marvin Panch for 55th on the all-time Cup wins list.

Hendrick Motorsports' No. 24 Chevrolet now has 13 wins on the famed half-mile track, making it one of the most storied cars in the track's history dating back to the 1949 inception of the Cup Series. Jeff Gordon won nine Cup races at Martinsville and ranks third to Richard Petty (15 wins) and Darrell Waltrip (11 wins).

Hendrick's Kyle Larson leads the points standings by 67 over Bell and 70 over Hamlin heading into the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Unfortunately for Bell and Hamlin, Larson won the most recent Cup race at Homestead-Miami.