NASCAR Xfinity Series at Phoenix 2017 Results: William Byron Picks Up 4th Win

Rookie William Byron picked up his fourth victory of the season Saturday, taking the checkered flag in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ticket Galaxy 200 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

Ryan Blaney dominated the race with 146 laps led, but a late caution allowed Byron to assume a lead he would never relinquish.

Here is a rundown of the top 10 finishers courtesy of NASCAR.com:

1. William Byron

2. Ryan Blaney

3. Erik Jones

4. Christopher Bell

5. Daniel Hemric

6. Blake Koch

7. Cole Custer

8. Alex Bowman

9. Austin Dillon

10. Justin Allgaier

Byron sealed a spot in next week's championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He will be joined by Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier, as well as Daniel Hemric, who beat out Cole Custer for the fourth and final position by virtue of a fifth-place finish.

Here is a look at the standings following Saturday's race, as the top four will vie for a championship next week with the highest finisher winning it all:

1. William Byron: Leader

2. Elliott Sadler: 0

3. Justin Allgaier: 0

4. Daniel Hemric: 0

5. Cole Custer: -1,772

6. Matt Tifft: -1,809

7. Brennan Poole: -1,812

8. Ryan Reed: -1,856

Brennan Poole entered the race in the fourth position, but it wasn't long before his championship hopes were dashed.

As seen in the following GIF courtesy of NASCAR Xfinity, Poole hit the wall after making contact with Caesar Bacarella:

That knocked Poole out of the race and left him understandably frustrated:

The manner in which the incident happened likely made it an even tougher pill for Poole to swallow after the race.

As Jeff Gluck of JeffGluck.com pointed out, Poole was knocked out by a driver who was inexperienced and nowhere near being in the mix with the top drivers in the race:

With Poole out of the picture, it opened the door for the likes of Hemric, Custer and Matt Tifft to potentially steal the fourth spot.

NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson felt for Poole after seeing him fall short of his championship dreams:

Amid the controversy surrounding Poole, Blaney and Erik Jones were battling for the lead.

After Jones led for much of the first stage, Blaney made the pass and went on to win the opening stage of the race:

Blaney also took the second stage and seemed well on his way to winning the race, but a wrench was thrown into his plans with 17 laps to go.

Brendan Gaughan hit the wall, which brought out the yellow flag and allowed the pit crews to strategize and ultimately decide the race:

Byron won the race off pit road, and while Blaney attempted to track him down, the 19-year-old phenom was able to hang on for the win.

While Byron was already a virtual lock to reach the championship race barring a disaster, the win goes a long way toward establishing him as the favorite.

He will have some tough competition in the form of a pair of veterans in Sadler and Allgaier, though, with Hemric acting as the wild card in the equation.

Byron has seemingly gotten better as the season has gone along, and after the rookie's win in Phoenix, he is undoubtedly the driver to beat in Homestead, Florida.