William Byron might have raced his way into a victory at Cook Out 400 in Martinsville, Virginia, over the weekend, but teammate Kyle Larson might have benefited the most.
With a second-place finish at Martinsville Speedway, Larson climbed to the top of the NASCAR Cup Series Standings with 309 points, followed by Martin Truex Jr. (295 points), Denny Hamlin (292), Byron (261), Ryan Blaney (261), and Chase Elliott (258).
“My car felt really good, I think we were all kind of the same speed honestly,” Larson told the media after the race. “Just lost a little bit of track position in the second stage and was never able to overcome that.”
It’s already been a stellar season for Byron, who also claimed the iconic 2024 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most prestigious and important race in NASCAR.
After finishing 13th the last time he raced Martinsville Speedway, Byron was a dominant racer on Sunday and helped the Hendrick Motorsports team finish 1-2-3 and celebrate the 40th anniversary of its racing team.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Byron told the media after the race. “Badass to win at Martinsville. We’ve been struggling at the short tracks. Just kept inching up on it. I got a great team. They just kept my head in it. It stunk to do a restart there at the end like that, but that’s the way it goes.”
Byron, who was named of Rookie of the Year in 2018, also won the Circuit of the Americas road course on March 24. He now has his 12th victory in his career and has now won at least two races for three straight years.
Byron, 26, now will look to keep the momentum going, heading into this weekend’s race at AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14.
He credits his racing team for helping with his development.
“When you walk in the doors at Hendrick Motorsports, it is just fascinating to me how clean everything is, how nice everything is, then how the culture is with the people inside there, being able to go up to anyone and ask a question,” Byron said. “There’s a real racer’s mindset to go fast and compete, but at the same time, they took me in with open arms when I was 20 years old, made me feel at home.”
However, several other drivers were encouraged by the performance at Martinsville and will look to overtake Byron in the coming weeks.
Larson was the last driver to make a qualifying run in the final round but managed a 96.034 mph lap to edge Bubba Wallace for his second-straight NASCAR Cup Series pole by 0.001 seconds. However, he could not overtake Byron in the man race, but he was still happy for his teammates on a momentous day.
“Just a great day for Hendrick Motorsports,” Larson said. “It’s been a great 40 seasons for them. Really cool to have 1,500 people here from Hendrick Motorsports to celebrate. Congrats to William. He did a really good job. Kind of schooled us all there after that green flag stop.
“Did a really good job passing all of us. He was able to set a good pace, still get through traffic well.”
Chase Elliott finished third in Martinsville and is within striking distance of Byron in eighth place with 258 points. Elliott extended his winless streak to 42 races, but he has the confidence that he is ready to break through with a victory in the upcoming weeks. He is also proud to represent Hendrick Motorsports, which was the dominant team on the day and will look to keep that swagger throughout the NASCAR season.
Elliott has endeared himself to the NASCAR community, winning the Most Popular Driver Award for each of the last six seasons.
If someone was going to edge him in victory lane, Elliott was at least happy it was one of his teammates. Hendrick Motorsports became the first organization to ever sweep the top three positions in a Cup Series race at Martinsville.
“Obviously No. 1, congrats to William and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports,” Elliott said. “They have an unbelievable program and I think we’re all proud to call it home,” Elliott said. “It was awesome hosting over 1,000 folks from Hendrick today and employees and their families.
“So, glad one of us could get it done. Obviously wish that we could have got it done selfishly like anybody else would but nice to have a couple solid weeks and to be in contention for a win is, you know, haven’t been in contention to win in a while.”
