Ryan Blaney wins at Martinsville and earns a chance to defend his NASCAR title

Ryan Blaney is racing for a title yet again.

The defending Cup champion won the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday to secure his spot in the Championship 4 for the second straight year.

Blaney passed Chase Elliott with 15 laps to go and held on for the victory, his third of the 2024 season.

The Championship 4 will be held next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, with Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and William Byron joining Blaney in the title fight. Elliott, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell were eliminated from contention.

Logano (Las Vegas), Reddick (Homestead-Miami) and Blaney (Martinsville) qualified with their wins in the Round of 8, while Byron claimed the final spot based on points in a controversial finish.

Byron was poised to advance by one point on the final lap before Bell's fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace slowed dramatically and Bell got by. He then drove up into the wall and rode it to the checkered flag, in a move similar to Ross Chastain's "Hail Melon" that was outlawed two years ago after another spicy Martinsville finish. After the events on the last lap, Bell was tied with Byron on points for the final spot -- but Bell held the tiebreaker and appeared to have advanced.

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NASCAR, after deliberating for nearly 30 minutes, penalized Bell for a safety violation (riding the wall) and placed him as the final car one lap down (22nd) -- which put him four points behind Byron for the final spot. That decision put Byron, who finished sixth, into the title race for the second straight year.

The Championship 4 is set for Sunday, Nov. 10, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.