Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron became the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to advance to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, thanks to his win on Sept. 24 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Byron’s win was the 300th in NASCAR Cup competition for Hendrick Motorsports and team owner Rick Hendrick.
The Round of 12 continues on Oct. 1 at Talladega and concludes at Charlotte on Oct. 9. Following the race at Charlotte, the field will be cut to eight.
NASCAR Playoff Standings
After first of three races in Round of 12.
- x-William Byron, Chevrolet, 3,083
- Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 3,074
- Chris Buescher, Ford, 3,059
- Christopher Bell, Toyota, 3,057
- Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 3,056
- Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 3,049
- Brad Keselowski, Ford, 3,045
- Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 3,039
- Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 3,037
- Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 3,036
- Ryan Blaney, Ford, 3,028
- Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 3,022
x-Qualified for Round of 8 with win at Texas on Sept. 24.
Mike Pryson covered auto racing for the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot and MLive Media Group from 1991 until joining Autoweek in 2011. He won several Michigan Associated Press and national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for auto racing coverage and was named the 2000 Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club’s Michigan Motorsports Writer of the Year. A Michigan native, Mike spent three years after college working in southwest Florida before realizing that the land of Disney and endless summer was no match for the challenge of freezing rain, potholes and long, cold winters in the Motor City.
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