Blaney’s win at Martinsville overshadowed by race manipulation

Ryan Blaney clinched a walk-off victory at Martinsville Speedway despite coming into the race second to last on points.

As Blaney celebrated, Christopher Bell and William Byron lingered by their parked cars, anxiously awaiting NASCAR’s final ruling on who would be the fourth driver advancing to the finale at Phoenix. The question revolved around whether Bell had intentionally rode the wall on the final lap, using the momentum to make a crucial pass that moved him ahead of Byron on points. Bell’s move bore a stark resemblance to Ross Chastain’s notorious “Hail the Wall” maneuver at Martinsville two years ago—a strategy that NASCAR later banned.

After several minutes of analysis, NASCAR deemed Bell’s wall riding illegal, allowing Byron to advance. This saved Hendrick Motorsports from a disastrous playoff elimination. Despite having three Hendrick drivers in contention for the final four spots, only Byron managed to qualify due to Bell’s infraction.

With Blaney’s victory securing his spot in the final four, he will compete to defend his championship title in the finale alongside his Team Penske teammate and two-time champion Joey Logano. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron will make a title run for the second year in a row, and Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing will make his first appearance.

When questioned, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, stated: “We had the situation with Ross here; there was a lot of dialog with the drivers that that’s not a move they want to have to make. In the offseason, meeting with the industry, meeting with our drivers—that was not a move they wanted to make.” Thus, NASCAR prohibited wall riding as a competitive tactic.

Bell defended his actions, arguing that he’d slid up the track into the marbles while attempting to avoid Bubba Wallace. Bell stated, “I slid into the wall and kept my foot into it. I didn’t intentionally floor it and go into the fence—I slipped into the wall, and that’s all she wrote.”

Despite that wall riding as an illegal safety issue ultimately decided the final spot, it wasn’t the only on-track shenanigans that NASCAR had concerns with, as they plan to take a closer look at footage this week. The first concern is Bell’s Toyota teammate Bubba Wallace and his sudden and convenient tire issue that allowed Bell to gain position directly following radio communication that updated Wallace on Bell’s position. The second concern is Byron’s Chevy teammates Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, who rode closely behind Byron to defend his position and protect him from losing another spot. In both cases, these moves appeared to be race manipulation and will be dealt with prior to Phoenix.

“To have another shot at the championship is really special,” Blaney said. “(I’ll) try to go back-to-back next week. I’ve got nothing left. Oh my God, I’m tired.”

Fifteen laps earlier, Blaney overtook Chase Elliott, who had driven from the back to P2. But with Blaney on newer tires, he closed the gap and made the pass that would win the race at Martinsville for the second year in a row. Only one week prior, that win at Homestead-Miami had been close at hand, until Blaney was passed in the third turn by Tyler Reddick. He admitted to losing sleep over the last-minute loss to Reddick but was redeemed with this win.

The race concluded with Elliott in second, Kyle Larson in third, and Austin Cindric in fourth. Denny Hamlin drove from last to fifth but was eliminated from the playoffs.

Polesitter and retiree-to-be Martin Truex Jr. incurred a pit-road speeding penalty during his scheduled stop, which dropped him three laps behind. Later, a second speeding penalty resulted in a 24th-place finish for the JGR driver, who was eliminated from playoff contention in the first round.

The season comes to a close next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, where the highest finisher among Logano, Blaney, Byron, and Reddick will be crowned champion.