Josiah Kopp All

MARTINSVILLE, VA— Ryan Blaney completed the distance in a NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time in the last four events Sunday in the Cook Out 400. Coming off a four-week streak of finishes of 19th or worse, Ryan Blaney was eager to turn the tide at Martinsville Speedway, collecting stage points and an 11th-place finish.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The opening Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway looked promising all weekend for William Byron, who left the race weekend first in points for the first time since February. Byron finished the Hollywood Casino with a Stage 1 victory, runner-up race finish, and a 52 total points — a race high — to leave the race with a six-point lead over Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell. Byron led 24 laps en route to his third second-place finish since his last win at Austin in May.

ATLANTA, Ga. — Survive and finish with 20 points. That was Denny Hamlin’s objective in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hamlin was sixth in the standings, +10 points to the cutline, entering the race. Add in a less-than-ideal average finish of 19.4 since the track’s reconfiguration and he had his reasons to play it safe. When the weekend began, the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team had a rough start.