Ryan Blaney passes with 14 to go and secures the Xfinity 500 in Martinsville

Ryan Blaney chased down and passed Chase Elliott with 14 laps to go on Sunday to secure a spot in Championship 4 Weekend and the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.

In the eighth round finale, and a week after the final-turn loss at Homestead, Blaney pushed his No. 12 Team Penske Ford ahead of Elliott's No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet down the homestretch to advance to Phoenix and defend his Cup championship.

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, hit the wall and rode it to the checkers to tie William Byron for fourth place in the Championship 4 and would have advanced on the tiebreaker.

However, after a long wait, NASCAR race officials decided that Bell's move was a safety violation, and Byron was allowed to join the championship four-man group with Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Blaney after Bell fell 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 early in the heats, and polesitter Martin Truex Jr. immediately took advantage of it throughout the 130-lap Stage 1, eventually being passed by Elliott on lap 42.

Problems arose for the early playoff contender when Bell, who started with the best points lead among the six drivers, spun his Toyota in Turn 1 on Lap 77 while passing under Corey LaJoie.

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

In the second stage, Blaney, Hamlin and Bell all stayed out on older tires and moved into the top five while the rest of the field pitted. The segment became a battle between two Fords: Blaney and Brad Keselowski, as the duo pulled away from Hamlin.

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

Bell had a terrible pit stop due to a loose tab and ended up in the low 20s after having to return to pit road. However, with Larson in the top five and unable to make up any positions, Bell took the lead and moved up to 21st on lap 315, advancing into championship contention.

Blaney used his No. 12 Ford to push Shane van Gisbergen at Byron and secured second place with almost 150 laps to go around the 800 meter track.

With 100 laps to go, Carson Hocevar was spun for the ninth time and pit strategy became an issue. Elliott, Blaney and Bell's lapped car all pitted, while Larson and Byron stayed out and made up the front row with Elliott in third.

–Field level media