William Byron wins at Martinsville for a Hendrick 1–2–3 Sweep on 40th Anniversary

8 April 2024
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News

RIDGEWAY, VA — Willam Byron delivers an overtime victory on the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville Speedway. Sweeping the top 3 positions by a single team has never happened at the track but like a Hollywood script, HMS and over 1,000 employees witnessed Byron powering to the overtime win, followed across the line by teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. Also in contention Sunday was the HMS №48 driven by Alex Bowman, who finished 8th. A dominating performance by Hendrick Motorsports at the Cook Out 400 scoring the organizations 29th win at Martinsville- the most of any race team at a single NASCAR track.

William Byron, driver of the №24 Axalta Ruby Chevrolet, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. (Image Credit: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images)

LARSON SOLIDIFYS POINTS LEAD and TOP POSITION IN GFT NASCAR AI DRIVER RANKINGS

Go Full Throttle NASCAR AI Driver Rankings following the Cook Out 400 on April 7, 2024 at Martinsville Speedway (Image Credit: GFT Digital)

The Big Movers:
Kyle Larson’s 2nd place and Stage Points earns him top spot in the NASCAR Driver Points and extend his hold at P1 in the GFT NASCAR AI Driver Rankings. Truex Jr. and Hamlin hold P2 and P3 respectively. William Byron’s 3rd win of the season moves him up 4 spots to P4 in the rankings. Also moving up were Chase Elliott now at P6, Bubba Wallace up 7 to P8, Logano up 6 to P11, Bowman up 5 to P13, and Chase Briscoe up 5 spots to P20.

William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta Ruby Chevrolet, and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on April 07, 2024 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Hendrick Motorsports Ruby Red fleet for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway (Image Credit: Hendrick Motorsports)

How it happened, Data via the Stage Reports:

Stage 1 of the Cook Out 400 was dominated by Hendrick Motorsports №5 Kyle Larson who lead every lap from the Pole position to the end of the stage (Image Credit: GFT Digital)

Denny Hamlin was the winner of Stage 2 at Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway (Image Credit: GFT Digital)

Top 10 finishers at Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway (Image Credit: GFT Digital)

For all the talk that this race was going to be a Hendrick Motorsports vs Joe Gibbs Racing battle, it really didn’t turn that way … at all. The highest JGR finisher was Denny Hamlin in P11 who made a bold move with his crew to pit before the overtime restart for fresh tires. The gamble didn’t pay off. Truex Jr was strong mid race, but faded in Stage 3, finishing 18th. Ty Gibbs looked very fast in Practice on Saturday, but the car went away from them, and he lacked speed in qualifying and the race finishing 19th. Christopher Bell, who many had as a favorite, lost a wheel lug early in the race and went laps down making for a long day in the №20 Toyota finishing 35th.

Strong showings by 23XI drivers Bubba Wallace (P4) and Tyler Reddick (P7). Also of note was Stewart-Hass Racing’s Ryan Preece finishing P9 and Chase Briscoe at P10.

FINAL finishing order for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. Inspection confirmed Byron as the winner. (Image Credit: NASCAR Timing and Scoring)