Ryan Blaney manages to take the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville with 14 more to go

Ryan Blaney chased and passed Chase Elliott with 14 laps remaining Sunday to earn a spot in the Championship 4 weekend, claiming the NASCAR Cup Series’ Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.

In the final round of eight and a week after losing in the final turn at Homestead, Blaney pushed his No. 12 Team Penske Ford through Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the front stretch to advance to Phoenix and his Cup championship to defend.

Kyle Larson lost the lead with 24 laps to go and finished third, followed by Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin.

Christopher Bell passed Bubba Wallace on the backstretch, drifted into the wall and drove it to the checkers to tie with William Byron for fourth spot in Championship 4 and would have advanced after the tiebreak.

After a long wait, however, NASCAR’s Race Control ruled that Bell’s move was a safety violation, and Byron was allowed to join the championship foursome with Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Blaney after Bell dropped from 18th to 22nd.

Bell, Larson, Elliott and Hamlin were eliminated from title contention.

NASCAR brought its softest tire compound in history to the track, providing more grip at the start of runs, and pole sitter Martin Truex Jr. used that straight away in the 130-lap Stage 1 until finally being passed by Elliott on lap 42.

Trouble arose for the first-time playoff contender when Bell, who started with the best points advantage of the six drivers, spun his Toyota while passing under Corey LaJoie on Lap 77 in Turn 1.

Elliott earned the maximum 10 bonus points for his first Stage 1 victory since the Daytona 500 in February, but Byron took full advantage of Bell’s difficulty and moved into the top four in points with a second-place finish.

In Stage 2, Blaney, Hamlin and Bell all stayed on older tires and moved into the top five as the rest of the field pitted. The segment became a battle between two Fords: Blaney and Brad Keselowski as the duo retreated from Hamlin.

For the first time this season, Keselowski took the top points on Stage 2, but potential championship qualifiers Blaney, Hamlin, Larson, Byron and Bell rounded out the next five finishers for bonus points respectively.

Bell had a terrible pit stop due to a loose cam and ended up in the low twenties after having to come back to pit road. However, with Larson in the top five and unable to gain positions, Bell took the lead and moved into championship contention by climbing to 21st on lap 315.

Blaney used his No. 12 Ford to pass Shane van Gisbergen into Byron and secure second place with almost 150 laps remaining on the half-mile circuit.

With 100 laps to go, Carson Hocevar was spun for the ninth caution and pit strategy became an issue. Elliott, Blaney and Bell’s lapped car all pitted, while Larson and Byron stayed out to form Row 1 with Elliott in third.

–Field-level media