Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron achieved a NASCAR first during Sunday’s penultimate playoff race, as he advanced to the Championship 4 after winning at Martinsville.

Byron progressed in the NASCAR Playoffs after beating Ryan Blaney to secure a dramatic win at Martinsville. Blaney would have also progressed with a victory, but was eliminated from playoff contention and won’t race for a championship in Phoenix next week.

Blaney was devastated but credited Byron as the worthy winner because he led for the majority of the race. Due to Byron’s dominant run, he made NASCAR postseason history by becoming the first Cup Series driver to start on pole, sweep all stages, and win in a playoff race.

Sunday’s race was dramatic, as six drivers competed for two positions in the championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe secured their spots before Martinsville, and Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell were above the cutline on Sunday.

However, Byron’s win moved him above the cutline, and dropped Bell into the elimination zone. Byron’s teammate, Larson, hung on to progress to the Championship 4.

The season finale will see two Hendrick drivers battle two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, though all NASCAR stars will be playing for themselves. Byron faced an uphill battle reaching the last race of the playoffs, but was ecstatic when crossing the line.

“Damn, I got a lot to say (smiling),” Byron said after progressing and making NASCAR history. “Things have a way of working out. God really tests your resilience a lot of times. We’ve been tested. Just unbelievable. I’m out of breath.

“Thank you, fans, for coming out. Bad-ass crowd. I watched my first NASCAR race up there just before start-finish line. Man, I am just so thankful, excited to see my family, just celebrate this one. We obviously go to Phoenix. Just go try to kick ass there.

“We just worked so hard, all these guys work so hard. You put everything into Sundays. Sometimes you don’t get anything in return. That’s been the last couple weeks.

“Honestly, throughout the year, had some close calls. But yeah, sometimes life is that way. You just got to keep being resilient. We were. Just feels damn good.”

Blaney credited Byron’s race and is already looking ahead to next season. “He (Byron) was able to keep it longer than me,” he said. “That’s how he got the lead.

“Thought I got a good restart, the last one. Kind of entered up top, tried to carry speed, and he just motored right around me on the bottom. Pretty impressive. Just proud of the effort.

“A shame we’re not going to Phoenix as part of the Championship 4. We’ll be doing the best we can to finish the year out strong. But I’m just proud of, like I said, the 12 guys.

“They have gave 100% of what they had. That’s all you can ask for. Wasn’t quite enough tonight. We’ll just move on.”