Martinsville winners and losers

A look at the winners and losers following Saturday night’s race at Martinsville Speedway …

William Byron: Sure, passing was difficult during the 403-lap race, but don’t confuse that as an undeserving win for Byron. The 24-year-old is now in his fifth Cup season and has adapted quickly to the Next Gen car — and better than most. Byron has the third-best average running position in the series through eight races (10.425) behind only Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott and now has two victories this year, the first time he’s won multiple races in a season. Despite his youth, Byron is quickly challenging as a leader in an already-stacked Hendrick Motorsports lineup.

Joey Logano: Logano finished second at Martinsville and is still seeking his first points-paying win of the season, but perhaps there was a benefit to his success at the Clash at the Coliseum in February. On the quarter-mile track built inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Logano cruised to victory in the exhibition race. The track shape and size differs from Martinsville, but short tracks provide learning opportunities nonetheless, and the No. 22 Ford posted the third-best average running position of the night and the fifth-most fastest laps, according to NASCAR’s loop data.

Austin Dillon: Dillon has already turned in a few impressive runs this season and added another Saturday night, finishing third at Martinsville. The No. 3 Chevrolet was second and reeling in Byron the longer the race progressed, but Dillon spun his tires on the overtime restart after choosing to restart behind Byron. Saturday marks Dillon’s second top-five finish of the year and third consecutive top 10.

Ross Chastain: Chastain was out of the picture for much of the race at Martinsville,