It was déjà vu all over again for Ryan Blaney and his #12 Team Penske organization at Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Blaney advanced to a lead of more than five seconds over Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott with about 55 laps left in the race. Blaney would pass Elliott for the race lead with 15 laps remaining and never look back.

Blaney, the reigning champion of the series, won the race by 2.593 seconds over Elliott, securing his place in the Championship 4 field in next weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Like last season, Blaney secured his place in the Championship 4 after a disappointing second-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RACE RESULTS: NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville
RELATING TO: NASCAR Cup Series Post-Martinsville Playoff Standings

The level of focus his No. 12 team continues to bring to these knockout-type races, one week removed from major disappointment, has Blaney feeling good about the group he is a part of.

“Yeah, I mean, after having a race last week at Homestead where it looked like we had a shot at going to Phoenix, I don’t know, it definitely pissed us off on Sunday,” Blaney admitted. post-race press conference. “Our group did a great job Monday morning, we’ll come back and do our job and figure out what we need to do to win at Martinsville. That’s how this team works. So I’m really proud to be there.” part of this group.”

Now, just like last season, Blaney will bring great momentum to Phoenix Speedway, where Team Penske has won the Bill France Cup in each of the last two seasons. Blaney knows his team will be ready to bring home its third straight title for Roger Penske.

“I definitely believe in momentum,” Blaney said. “I believe in trust and things like that. I think it’s the same as last year, right? Move that into next week.”

Blaney continued: “This team is really ready to do it. Hopefully we can carry the momentum we had by winning this race last year into next week…”

Blaney will join Team Penske teammate Joey Logano, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, the other driver locked in the Championship 4 at Martinsville on Sunday night.

While Byron locked the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the Championship 4 with a sixth-place finish, the team hesitated to take a second car into the championship race in its 40th anniversary season.

The driver, who achieved three wins in the first eight races of the season, will enter the Championship race next weekend with a losing streak of 27 races. But Byron has really come alive in the last six races, finishing sixth or better in every race in that span.

“I don’t care,” Byron said of people doubting whether he has what it takes to win a championship this year. “I’m grateful to our fans and everyone who supports us. I know I have a great team behind me and I’m excited to go to Phoenix. Yeah, so we didn’t win this round. We’ve had our ups and downs. This year isn’t as good as last year, but we’re still in the same place.” , we have a chance to compete for the championship and I know we learned a lot.”

Elliott saw his hopes for a second NASCAR Cup Series championship end with a second-place finish; Kyle Larson, who has a series-high six wins this season, missed out on advancing after finishing third.

Austin Cindric took an impressive fourth place, one place ahead of Denny Hamlin, who failed to qualify for the Championship 4 in fifth. Although Hamlin failed to advance, he put in a whirlwind effort in Friday’s practice session as he recovered from the final starting spot following a hard crash after the throttle was left wide open.

Hamlin’s team repaired the car and he steadily worked his way through the field, but ultimately didn’t have the car he needed to get over the final few points he needed to win the race.

Austin Dillon finished seventh, one place behind Byron, and was followed by Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano to the finish line.

Christopher Bell passed Bubba Wallace on the final lap to qualify 18th at the start, which was enough to advance him over Byron into the Championship 4 field. However, NASCAR determined that Bell violated the rules by riding the wall to advance on the final lap of the race.

After a nearly 30-minute wait after the checkered flag was shown, NASCAR issued an in-race penalty to Bell and the No. 20 team, dropping them to 22nd and making Bell the last driver one lap down. The adjustment to Bell’s finishing position erased his place in the Championship 4 and ensured Bell’s progression to the final round of the Playoffs.

With the Championship 4 field set for now, NASCAR’s Elton Sawyer said the sanctioning body will review data, video and in-car radio to determine if any teams attempted to manipulate the finish of the race.

“Yes, we’ll look at everything,” Sawyer said. “As I said before, we want to go back, as we would have done anyway. We will go back, we will get all the data, the videos. We will listen to the in-car audio. We will do everything.” “As in every case.”

The teams in question include Bubba Wallace, who slowed on the final lap and allowed Bell to pass him for one position, as well as Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, who created a double-row logjam behind Byron in what could potentially be a joint effort. To prevent others from passing our fellow Chevy driver, Byron.

The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race will be held next Sunday, November 10, at Phoenix Raceway. This race will be broadcast on NBC and coverage will begin at 3pm ET. Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide live radio coverage of this event.