Sunday night at Martinsville Speedway felt like every racing cliché rolled into one brutal showdown. You could practically taste the tension on pit road. For one driver, it was the high of victory; for another, just feet away, it was the crushing agony of defeat.
As the race ended, William Byron—who’d clawed his way to sixth—and Christopher Bell, finishing 18th, found themselves waiting to see who’d make the cut for the Playoffs. Byron had fought tooth and nail in those final laps, blocking everyone behind him because he knew giving up even one position would hand the last Playoff spot to Bell. Meanwhile, Bell wasn’t just racing; he was throwing Hail Marys. In a last-ditch attempt, he channeled his inner Ross Chastain, pinning his Toyota to the wall and scraping out an extra spot—a move that, at least for a few minutes, seemed like it might snag him the Playoff berth.
“He rode the wall,” Byron pointed out as he waited, sounding half-annoyed, half-disbelieving. “There’s a clear rule against riding the wall. In my ride, that’s what counts. The 23 stuff is what it is. There was a lot going on there, so…”
He shrugged, resigned. “Just see what they say here in a sec. We had damage ever since the 12 shipped the 16 car out of the way, screwed up our tow. We were terrible in the long run for the final stage after that. Sucks.”
Nearby, Bell was just as uncertain, scanning faces around him for any hint of what was going on.
“I mean, I don’t know. I knew I had to get past the 23, and got really loose, got really loose getting into turn 3,” Bell admitted. “Once I got in the marbles, I was in the wall. I had no intention of riding the wall. That’s unfortunately where I ended up trying to get all I could get.”
He glanced around, baffled. “Yeah, I don’t know. This is weird. This is weird. Everyone is standing around. Nobody knows what’s going on. I don’t know if this is the last interview I’m going to have of the day.”
About 20 minutes later, the weirdness was over. NASCAR slapped Bell with a “safety violation” for his wall-riding maneuver, dropping him to 22nd and securing the final Playoff spot for Byron. For the first time in two years, Bell wouldn’t be part of the Championship 4 at Phoenix.
“Well, I mean, I understand that the rule is made to prevent people from riding the wall,” Bell sighed. “But my move was completely different than what Ross’ was. I got loose getting into the corner and slid right into the fence.”
He shook his head, helpless. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know what else to say.”
Byron, now set for the Championship 4, wasn’t exactly jumping for joy either.
“I’m not happy for anything,” Byron said, deadpan. “But the rule is what it is, for the crossover gate over there, riding the wall. It is what it is.
“I will go race. Just proud of my team. Really a hard-fought day overall. Proud of that.”
In the end it was classic Martinsville mixed with Playoff madness—where inches, split-second decisions, and a little controversy decide who gets to chase the championship dream.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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