NASCAR: Ryan Blaney wins at Martinsville to secure shot at Cup Series title

Ryan Blaney won Sunday’s Cup Series race at Martinsville to advance to the final four at Phoenix. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Ryan Blaney didn’t need to win at Martinsville to have a chance at the Cup Series title but he got the victory anyway.

Blaney drove away from Aric Almirola and Denny Hamlin over the final 25 laps of the race to get the first win of his career at Martinsville and join Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and William Byron as the four drivers racing for the title on Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway.

As the race wound down, it was clear that Hamlin needed to get a win to have a title shot. He was eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday along with polesitter Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher.

Blaney entered the race in fourth in the standings; 10 points ahead of Reddick and 17 points ahead of Hamlin and Truex. But the cut-line drama didn’t involve him. It instead revolved around Byron, who entered the race in third with a healthy points lead over Reddick and the others.

But Byron failed to score stage points as Blaney and Hamlin ran up front for most of the race. Truex took himself out of the running for the final four with a pit road speeding penalty in the second stage and Reddick and Buescher were relative non-factors.

The race over the final stage became about how much ground Byron could make up through the field while hoping that Blaney won and Hamlin didn’t.

That’s exactly what happened, as Byron got into the final four by fewer than 10 points as he finished 13th.