William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Nascar Camaro ZL1, took home his second Cup Series victory of the 2022 season after a rather tame Saturday night race at Martinsville Speedway.
There were just three different leaders during the night race on April 9th, in which Byron’s No. 24 Next Gen Camaro assumed the point after a series of pit stops during the Stage 2 caution. Polesitter Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Nascar Camaro, showed the way around the half-mile paved oval for 185 laps when the race finally went green after being rain delayed for over an hour. However, Elliott lost the race off Pit Road to Byron.
Byron went on to lead 212 laps despite pitting under the green flag during Stage 3, which put Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Ford Mustang up front for just five laps before he had to pit himself. Once Blaney pitted, Byron reassumed the lead and never looked back.
While the field remained stabilized for the majority of the race, there was a little bit of drama on the last restart that almost stole victory away from Byron in the No. 24 Camaro. Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 Ford, brushed the wall in Turn 4, prompting a caution that forced the race into Nascar Overtime. Byron’s No. 24 Camaro returned to the point on the restart, but found himself under pressure from the No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano. Logano attempted to bump Byron out of the way, but fell back and finished second.
“You’ve got one of the most aggressive guys behind you with Logano,” Byron explained after the race. “I chattered the tires in (Turns) 3 and 4 (on the last lap) and left the bottom open, but I was able to kind of block my exit to get a good drive off (the corner).
Byron dedicated his win to his mother, who experienced a mini-stroke in 2021, which was later confirmed to have been caused by brain cancer. Both of his parents were watching from the pit box.
“I kind of felt like she was riding in there with me. It’s cool to have her here, and I’m definitely going to enjoy this one,” Byron said.
Byron also won the Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Thursday night.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 403 | 212 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 14 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 403 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 23 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 403 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 12 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 403 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 27 | 1 | Ross Chastain | GoPro Chevrolet | 403 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 18 | 45 | Kurt Busch | McDonald's/Money Lion Toyota | 403 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Crunchy Cookie Toyota | 403 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 8 | 2 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Spirals Ford | 403 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 19 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 403 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | LLumar Chevrolet | 403 | 185 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 13 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Menards/Moen Ford | 403 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 15 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 403 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 24 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 403 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Subway Ford | 403 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 4 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 403 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 21 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | DoorDash Toyota | 403 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 17 | 9 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Fastenal Ford | 403 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 22 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | 3CHI Chevrolet | 403 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 8 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 403 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Yahoo! Toyota | 402 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 3 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 402 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 20 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 401 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 34 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Chevyliners.com Chevrolet | 401 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 36 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 401 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 16 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Navage Nasal Care Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 29 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 28 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 25 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 400 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 29 | 30 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | GoPro Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 10 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Cross Country Adjusting Ford | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 17 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 26 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Built.com Chevrolet | 397 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 35 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 394 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 32 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Ford | 392 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 31 | 77 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 391 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 33 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Epilepsy Foundation Ford | 132 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
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Comments
Great job Kid. I’ll vote you get the champion ship this year. Even if it’s early keep winning for Rick.
I guess if everything’s going electric, the race will only last a few laps! Pit road will be congested and take a while to recharge.