William Byron dominated Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, leading 362 of 500 laps to win the Xfinity 500 and snap a winless streak that had stretched across 35 races and more than a year.

Byron swept the first two stages on his way to a maximum points day in the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He cycled back to the lead with 74 laps to go after green flag pit stops in the final stage and held off teammate Chase Elliott by 2.049 seconds at the finish. It was the 17th win of his Cup Series career and his fourth victory at Martinsville, earning him another of the famous grandfather clocks the track awards its winners. His last win before Sunday also came at Martinsville last fall.

Ty Gibbs finished third, followed by Josh Berry in fourth and Shane van Gisbergen in fifth, the third top five oval finish of the season for the driver from New Zealand. Denny Hamlin was sixth, with Austin Dillon seventh, Bubba Wallace eighth, Kyle Larson ninth and Christopher Bell tenth.

Larson arrived with a chance to clinch his third Cup Series title a week early. He came in leading the Chase with 2,441 points, 73 points ahead of Hamlin, and he needed 59 points on the day to lock up the championship no matter what anyone else did. Instead his No. 5 team stayed out through the opening stage and scored no stage points at all, and Larson spent much of the afternoon fighting back after falling a lap down. A ninth place finish protected most of his lead, but it was not enough to close the title out.

Hamlin followed the same opening stage strategy and also scored no points in that stage. Bell scored stage points in both stages, but a speeding penalty on pit road and a spin after contact from Joey Logano that also collected Hamlin hurt his charge. Ryan Blaney saw his title hopes end on lap 253 after contact with the rear of the car of Josh Berry left his Ford with heavy front end damage.

Larson now heads to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 8 with 2,469 points and a lead of 67 points over Bell, with Hamlin 70 points behind. Larson, Bell and Hamlin are the only three drivers still alive for the championship, and the title will be settled in the final race of the season.

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