Win puts Blaney in first Cup title race

Ryan Blaney will race for his first Cup championship after qualifying for NASCAR’s title-deciding finale with a Sunday win at Martinsville Speedway.

William Byron, who led the Cup Series with six wins this season, earned the fourth and final slot in the championship by limping to a 13th-place finish at the Virginia racetrack. Byron edged Denny Hamlin, who finished third, by 8 points to qualify for the championship.

Blaney and Byron will race Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, where the Cup championship will go to the highestfinishing driver.

“I felt like we put together a really strong playoffs, especially the round of eight,” said Blaney, who didn’t finish lower than sixth in the three-race round. “Can’t wait to get to Phoenix next week.”

Larson and Byron gave Hendrick Motorsports a pair of Chevrolets in the final four, Bell is in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Blaney drives a Ford for Team Penske. Blaney can give Team Penske back-to-back titles following Joey Logano’s win for Penske last year.

Larson is the only driver in the field with a Cup title and returns to the final four for the second time in three years. Bell is back in the championship for the second consecutive year; Blaney and Byron have never raced for the Cup title.

Byron said his helmet fan stopped working during the race. He dropped to the ground outside his car afterward.

“It’s our worst race of the year,” Byron said. “With 50 [laps] to go, I felt really, really bad and I just had to drive the hell out of it. The guys stuck with me and just kept motivating me through, little bits and pieces, and just keeping my mind straight.”

Hamlin was pretty much in a must-win situation after a mechanical failure last week caused him to crash and dropped him below the cutoff line for elimination at Martinsville. He wasted no time going after the win and led a race-high 156 laps.

But Hamlin lost ground after the final round of pit stops — when he and Blaney each took four tires — and never worked his way back through the traffic to challenge for the win.

Martin Truex Jr., the regularseason champion and pole-sitter Sunday, was eliminated from title contention along with Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing, Chris Buescher of RFK Racing, and Hamlin.