Williams Byron held onto the lead during a two-lap dash to the finish and led a 1-2-3 finish for Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville, the first for a team in the track’s storied history. Now the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway.
The victory was Byron’s third in eight races. Kyle Larson finished second and Chase Elliott was third on the 40th anniversary of the team’s first win.
Larson also took over the points lead by 14 over former leader Martin Truex.
Despite his three victories, Byron is fourth in points, 48 behind Larson.
There were 13 lead changes among eight drivers. The victory was the 29th for Hendrick on the 0.526-mile oval, the most for any organization at any track.
Byron won at Texas last fall.
Practice and qualifying is at 9:30 am Saturday morning. Race time is 2:30 on Sunday afternoon.
Aric Almirola grabbed the lead by going three-wide on the outside in a two-lap overtime dash to the finish and won at Martinsville in the XFinity Series.
The XFinity Series joins the top series in Texas this weekend.
Almirola led six times for 148 laps in his fifth career victory in the series. He also won $100,000 as the top finisher among four drivers eligible for the Dash for Cash.
Chandler Smith finished third and expanded his points lead to 35 over Austin Hill. Smith is the only driver to have finished in the top 10 in all seven races.
Carson Kvapil finished fourth in his series debut.
The race featured 15 lead changes, eight different leaders, and 11 cautions.
Practice and qualifying is at 5 pm this evening and race time is at 12:30 pm on Saturday.
Christian Eckes rallied from 19th and outran pole-winner Ty Majeski at Martinsville. The Craftsman Truck Series picks back up this week in Texas.
Eckes led the first 104 laps then regained the lead on the 172nd of 200 laps. The victory was the second for Eckes this season. He also won on another short track at Bristol.
Majeski assumed the points lead by seven over Corey Heim and Tyler Ankrum.
Practice and qualifying is at 3 pm this afternoon and race time is 7:30 pm tonight.
