NASCAR Cup playoff standings ahead of Martinsville elimination race

Two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have already locked themselves into the Championship 4, but two spots remain to be decided at Martinsville

Denny Hamlin is locked into the Championship 4 after a big win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and now his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe has done the same with a big win at Talladega Superspeedway, taking the lead on the final lap.

The battle around the final two transfer spots will be wild. Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson have a large margin over the elimination zone, but there is just one point between them.

A win by Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, or Chase Elliott at Martinsville will automatically eliminate whoever the unfortunate driver in fourth is at the checkered flag. All four of these drivers currently in the elimination zone have won at Martinsville before, and some very recently.

Larson and Byron were running 1-2 at the start of the final overtime restart, but Larson ran out of fuel and Byron spun in a nightmarish final lap for Hendrick Motorsports.

Photos from Talladega - Race

NASCAR Cup playoff standings after Talladega

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points above/below cutline
1	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	ADVANCED
2	Chase Briscoe	Joe Gibbs Racing	ADVANCED
3	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	+37
4	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	+36
CUTLINE	CUTLINE	CUTLINE	CUTLINE
5	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	-36
6	Joey Logano	Team Penske	-38
7	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	-47
8	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	-62