‘I don’t know what to think’ says subdued Byron after chaotic Martinsville finish

William Byron is headed back to the Championship 4 for the NASCAR Cup Series championship but had a hard time celebrating Sunday night at Martinsville Speedway.

Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team took the final transfer spot when NASCAR penalized Christopher Bell. Bell was deemed to have ridden the wall on the final lap, which was outlawed after Ross Chastain performed the move in 2022.

At the finish, Bell advanced over Byron via a tiebreaker, but the penalty negated the move and he was taken from an 18th place finish to 22nd.

Byron finished sixth.

“I don’t know what to think,” Byron said. “I have a hard time feeling happy in this situation. We just raced as hard as we could and raced within the rules and everything like that, so it is what it is at that point.

“We were tied on points, and like I said, the wall ride is what it is. We just had to fight through that. I don’t know. I’m glad to race for a championship, that’s for sure.”

It took 27 minutes before the decision was announced. Byron and Bell both stayed on pit road with their teams as the finish was reviewed. There were crowds around both drivers to capture the moment when one of them was given the news they would be racing for a championship.

“I’ve never been through anything like that,” Byron said. “There was definitely some drama from that, for sure, because I usually get to go home by now. I don’t really know what to think about all that, but thankful that NASCAR looked at it, that they have rules in place, and that’s what it is.”

Byron thought it was clear what happened. Although he has thought about making such a move, he knows there is a rule against it.

The finish was set up as the No. 24 ran inside the top 10 all afternoon and earned 15 stage points, while Bell earned none and was buried in the pack because of multiple miscues. In the final laps, Byron tried to hang onto a slim one-point advantage over Bell.

He also had wingmen behind him to help the cause. There were three Chevrolet drivers stacked behind Byron, none of which made a pass that would have taken a point away.