Hendrick Motorsports Wins Hat Trick in Overtime at Martinsville Cup Race

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MARTINSVILLE, VA - RIS - Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway turne into a rout for Hendrick Motorsports. William Byron earned his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season with Sunday's victory in the Cook Out 400, as the Chevrolet teams finished the top three spots.  It sas a storybook ending for NASCAR's winningness team.  Following Byron across the finish line were Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.  Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five. Alex Bowman, the fourth HMS driver, ended the day eighth.

The race went to overtime when John Hunter Nemechek had a right-front tire issue and hit the outside wall. This erased Byron’s lead and forced the field to line back up for a two-lap dash to the finish line. Byron was never headed.

Byron, the first of the contenders to pit under a green flag with 104 laps to go, moved to the front 31 laps later and was never threatened after getting the jump at the start of overtime. It was his third win this season, and his second on the 0.526-mile, paper-clip shaped oval.

The race featured long green flag runs, with two of the five cautions pre-planned at the end of stages one and two. There were 13 lead changes among eight drivers.

The victory was the 305th for Hendrick teams and its 29th at NASCAR’s smallest, oldest track, a record for an organization at any venue. Geoff Bodine had the first one win at Martinsville on April 29, 1984. It convinced team owner Rick Hendrick not to fold his fledgling. struggling team.

The Hendrick organization hosted more than 1,000 current and former employees for the race, but the owner was not able to attend, having recently undergone knee replacement surgery. Former driver and champion Jeff Gordon was there assumed to be in charge due to Hendrick's absense

Larson, the defending race winner and pole-sitter, led all 80 laps in the first stage. Joey Logano gambled by taking right side tires only during pit stops after the stage and led the first 83 laps of green-flag racing in the second stage before Denny Hamlin passed him to win the stage.

Next next week, the Cup drivers head to Fort Worth, Texas and Texas Motor Speedwy.  The track has made changes to the pavement on the track which they believe will make for better racing.

Unofficial Results for the Cook Out 400, April 7, 2024 - Martinsville Speedway
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Status, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts
1) 18, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Ruby Chevrolet, 415, 8, 8, 46, Running, 2, 88, 5
2) 1, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Ruby Chevrolet, 415, 1, 3, 53, Running, 1, 86, 1
3) 3, Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Ruby Chevrolet, 415, 3, 4, 49, Running, 3, 64, 
4) 2, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, 415, 2, 2, 51, Running, , , 
5) 9, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, 415, , , 32, Running, , , 
6) 6, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 415, 6, 5, 42, Running, 2, 84, 
7) 19, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota, 415, , , 30, Running, , , 
8) 10, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Ruby Chevrolet, 415, , 6, 34, Running, , , 
9) 22, Ryan Preece, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 415, , , 28, Running, , , 
10) 5, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 415, 4, 7, 38, Running, 1, 8, 
11) 8, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, 415, 7, 1, 40, Running, 3, 66, 1
12) 17, Erik Jones, No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota, 415, , , 25, Running, , , 
13) 16, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Carson-Newman University Ford, 415, , , 24, Running, , , 
14) 12, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 415, , 9, 25, Running, , , 
15) 30, Chris Buescher, No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 414, , , 22, Running, , , 
16) 11, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet, 414, 10, , 22, Running, , , 
17) 25, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 414, , , 20, Running, , , 
18) 4, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 414, 5, , 25, Running, , , 
19) 15, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 414, , , 18, Running, , , 
20) 26, Noah Gragson, No. 10 Overstock.com Ford, 414, , , 17, Running, , , 
21) 35, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Long John Silver's Ford, 414, , , 16, Running, , , 
22) 21, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 414, , , 15, Running, 1, 13, 
23) 14, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Libman Ford, 414, , , 14, Running, 1, 6, 
24) 13, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Body Guard Ford, 414, , , 13, Running, , , 
25) 7, Josh Berry #, No. 4 Mobil 1 50th Anniversary Ford, 413, 9, 10, 15, Running, , , 
26) 31, Kaz Grala #, No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford, 413, , , 11, Running, , , 
27) 33, Josh Williams(i), No. 16 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet, 413, , , 0, Running, , , 
28) 36, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, 413, , , 9, Running, , , 
29) 23, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 SUNNYD Chevrolet, 413, , , 8, Running, , , 
30) 27, Justin Haley, No. 51 Ohanafy Ford, 413, , , 7, Running, , , 
31) 24, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet, 412, , , 6, Running, , , 
32) 32, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 412, , , 5, Running, , , 
33) 34, Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 412, , , 4, Running, , , 
34) 28, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 412, , , 3, Running, , , 
35) 20, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Yahoo! Toyota, 411, , , 2, Running, , , 
36) 29, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Skip Barber Racing School Toyota, 396, , , 1, Accident, , , 
37) 37, David Starr*(i), No. 66 Amptricity Ford, 311, , , 0, Steering, , ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 415 Laps, 218.29 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 52 Mins, 7 Secs.
Average Speed: 76.096 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.550 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 5, 23, 9, 14, 19, 22, 11, 24, 4, 8
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 23, 5, 9, 22, 48, 14, 24, 1, 4

Comments: William Byron won the Cook Out 400, his 13th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Cautions: 5 for 51 laps;

Laps: 82-93 (Stage 1 Conclusion [17]);
114-119 (Debris [10]);
182-193 (Stage 2 Conclusion [31]);
204-209 (#20 spin turn 4 [34]);
399-413 ( [1]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 8 drivers;
K. Larson 1-86;
J. Logano 87-169;
D. Hamlin 170-193;
C. Elliott 194-252;
D. Hamlin 253;
C. Elliott 254-257;
D. Hamlin 258-298;
J. Logano 299;
C. Briscoe 300-307;
A. Cindric 308-313;
D. Suarez 314-326;
W. Byron 327-412;
C. Elliott 413;
W. Byron 414-415.

Unofficial Points: Cook Out 400, Martinsville Speed way
Rank  Driver     Car  Starts     GL   Points     Ldr  Nxt  Race Wins  Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Kyle Larson   5    8    1    309  0    0    1    4    9
2) Martin Truex Jr    19   8    -1   295  -14  14   0    1    1
3) Denny Hamlin  11   8    0    292  -17  0    2    2    12
4) William Byron 24   8    3    261  -48  31   3    0    15
5) Ryan Blaney   12   8    0    261  -48  0    0    1    1
6) Chase Elliott 9    8    2    258  -51  3    0    1    1
7) Ty Gibbs 54   8    -3   254  -55  0    0    2    2
8) Ross Chastain 1    8    1    232  -77  22   0    0    0
9) Tyler Reddick 45   8    1    229  -80  0    0    1    1
10) Alex Bowman  48   8    1    227  -82  2    0    0    0
11) Christopher Bell   20   8    -5   221  -88  0    1    2    7
12) Bubba Wallace 23   8    2    216  -93  5    0    0    0
13) Chris Buescher    17   8    -1   207  -102  0    0    0    0
14) Joey Logano  22   8    5    191  -118  16   0    0    0
15) Kyle Busch   8    8    -2   189  -120  0    0    0    0
16) Chase Briscoe 14   8    2    188  -121  1    0    0    0
17) Daniel Suarez 99   8    -2   178  -131  0    1    0    5
18) Brad Keselowski   6    8    -2   176  -133  2    0    0    0
19) John Hunter Nemechek    42   8    -2   157  -152  0    0    0    0
20) Erik Jones   43   8    2    154  -155  3    0    0    0
21) Austin Cindric    2    8    -1   147  -162  0    0    1    1
22) Michael McDowell   34   8    -1   146  -163  1    0    1    1
23) Josh Berry # 4    8    0    129  -180  0    0    0    0
24) Todd Gilliland    38   8    2    126  -183  3    0    0    0
25) Carson Hocevar #   77   8    -1   125  -184  0    0    0    0
26) Ryan Preece  41   8    5    112  -197  13   0    0    0
28) Corey LaJoie 7    8    -1   105  -204  5    0    0    0
29) Noah Gragson 10   8    1    101  -208  0    0    0    0
30) Daniel Hemric 31   8    -1   95   -214  6    0    0    0
31) Austin Dillon 3    8    -3   93   -216  0    0    0    0
32) Justin Haley 51   8    0    85   -224  8    0    0    0
33) Kaz Grala #  15   8    0    82   -227  0    0    0    0
34) Harrison Burton   21   8    0    72   -237  10   0    0    0
35) Zane Smith # 71   8    0    67   -242  0    0    0    0
36) David Ragan       1    0    17   -292  50   0    0    0
37) Derek Kraus       2    0    11   -298  0    0    0    0
38) Jimmie Johnson          1    0    9    -300  2    0    0    0
39) Kamui Kobayashi         1    0    8    -301  0    0    0    0
40) Aj Allmendinger(i)      3    0    0    -309  8    0    0    0
41) Shane Van Gisbergen(i)       1    0    0    -309  0    0    0    0
42) Riley Herbst(i)         1    0    0    -309  0    0    0    0
43) Bj Mcleod(i)      1    0    0    -309  0    0    0    0
44) Josh Williams(i)   16   2    4    0    -309  0    0    0    0
45) Anthony Alfredo(i)      1    -1   0    -309  0    0    0    0
46) Ty Dillon(i)      1    -1   0    -309  0    0    0    0
47) Jj Yeley(i)       1    -1   0    -309  0    0    0    0
48) Timmy Hill(i)     1    -1   0    -309  0    0    0    0
49) * David Starr(i)   66   1    -49  0    -309  0    0    0    0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series