William Byron led only the last six laps Sunday at Texas, going in front by passing Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe right after the final restart, and advanced to the round of eight with his series-best sixth win of the season. It was the 300th for Hendrick Motorsports, coming just more than two years after passing Petty Enterprises’ longtime record of 268 wins for the most in Cup history.

With Byron already in the next round, Hendrick also has 2021 champion Kyle Larson still in contention. Larson is currently eighth in the playoff standings with two races left before the next cut, though he was almost the one to get No. 300 — like he got the record 269th at Charlotte midway through his championship season.

The top five finishers at the 1 1/2-mile Texas track were all playoff contenders, with Ross Chastain second, ahead of Wallace, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin. Retiring driver Kevin Harvick was sixth and playoff driver Brad Keselowski seventh.

Byron maintained first place in the playoff standings, with Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski and Larson rounding out the top eight. Bubba Wallace moved up three spots to ninth, still one below the cutoff line before the round of 8. Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch were behind him.

There are two more races in the round of 12, at Talladega next weekend and then the Roval at Charlotte. Both can be unpredictable and concerning tracks for drivers still trying to advance.