NASCAR star Kyle Larson has earned the chance to compete for a second Cup Series championship at Phoenix next weekend, but it was far from an easy afternoon for the Hendrick Motorsports star.

With Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and William Byron having all won races in the Round of 8, Larson snatched the last spot in the Championship 4 on points, beating Christopher Bell in the standings by just eight points come the black and white checkered flag at Martinsville.

With Larson having been fourth in the standings, he knew that even a win for a driver outside the top four pre-race couldn't eliminate him if he finished above Bell, who he was just one point behind ahead of the green flag.

It was a job well done in that sense for the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, finishing above the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver in stages one, stage two, and the race itself.

Kyle Larson survives playoff elimination

Speaking post-race in Virginia, the Hendrick Motorsports star talked about the stress he was feeling knowing his championship hopes were on the line and how he felt he was in control given his advantage over Bell.

“It was a little less stressful because I recognized that we were better than Christopher in car performance, and we were just in front of him all night,” Larson said.

“I knew when we got a good first stage that it was not gonna be easy, but the math was gonna be much easier. I just had to keep him kind of within my sights at that point.

“Our team just did a great job and we didn’t have any hiccups really. I definitely could have had some better restarts. But like I said, when I had outscored Christopher, I was just playing it a little bit easy and kind of wanted to just tuck in line and go from there."

Larson proud of Byron

Whilst Larson knew he didn't need a win to make it to Phoenix's championship race, his teammate Byron could not say the same, with the No. 24 team needing the win to advance.

They did just that in the end, and Larson admitted he was proud of his teammate after his fine achievement, with two Hendrick Motorsports cars now occupying half of the Championship 4 field.

"Happy to be in the final four. Really proud of William," he added. "That was a hell of a drive.

"So yeah, we’ve got two Hendrick cars going for a championship, and yeah, hopefully we can do it for Rick [Hendrick]."

The NASCAR Cup Series championship will be decided at Phoenix Raceway next Sunday, November 2 at 3pm ET (NBC).