The Cup Championship 4 field will be set Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick have secured spots in the title race. That leaves six drivers to vie for the final two spots.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams ahead of the Martinsville playoff race (2 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC).
23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick’s victory at Homestead sends him into the Championship 4 for the first time. His win gives 23XI Racing, in its fourth year of existence, its first chance for a Cup title. … Bubba Wallace has three top 10s in the last four races at Martinsville, including a fourth-place finish in the spring race. Bad news: Reddick has only two top-15 finishes in nine Martinsville starts.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell will make his 500th career Cup start this weekend. Bad news: Todd Gilliland has not had a top-15 finish in the last 12 races this year.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron won the spring race at Martinsville, leading a 1-2-3 Hendrick finish. Kyle Larson was second. Chase Elliott was third in that race. … The organization has won five of the last eight Martinsville races. … Elliott has 11 top 10s at Martinsville. Kansas is the only track that he has more top 10s with 12. … Elliott has run the most laps (1,336) in the top five at Martinsville in the Next Gen car among any Cup driver. … Larson has three top-five finishes, including a win, in his last four Martinsville starts. … William Byron has won two of the last five Martinsville races. …Byron has not finished worse than sixth in the last five races this season. … Alex Bowman has eight top fives and 17 top 10s this year. Both tie his career best total. Bad news: Bowman’s win in October 2021 is his only top five at Martinsville in 16 starts.
A aggressive move by Tyler Reddick at Las Vegas ended his race. Kyle Larson says he continues to juggle how aggressive to be at times.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell leads all drivers with 14 top fives and 22 top 10s this season. Both are a career high for Bell. … Bell can clinch a spot in the Championship 4 by scoring 34 or more points Sunday. … Denny Hamlin has five wins at Martinsville, most among active drivers. Bad news: Hamlin’s last win at Martinsville came in March 2015. … Ty Gibbs has finished outside the top 30 each of the past three races. … Martin Truex Jr. is winless in his last 50 Cup starts.
Homestead winner Tyler Reddick makes a big jump in this week’s top 10.
JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has three top-five finishes this season, one more than he had last year at this time. Bad news: Stenhouse has one top-10 finish in his last 13 starts at Martinsville.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger finished eighth last weekend at Homestead for his third consecutive top 10 at that track. … Shane van Gisbergen is back in the No. 16 this weekend. … Daniel Hemric ranks first in the series in laps run. He’s completed 8,879 of 8,932 laps (99.4%). Bad news: Kaulig has not had a car finish better than 23rd in a Cup race at Martinsville.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: The organization has had one car finish in the top 10 in two of the last four races. Bad news: John Hunter Nemechek has not finished better than 25th in three Martinsville Cup starts. … Erik Jones has one top 10 in 15 career Cup starts at Martinsville.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon is making his 399th career Cup start with RCR. Bad news: While Kyle Busch has the most short track wins (16) among active drivers, he hasn’t won at a short track since April 2019. … Busch has not finished better than 16th in his last four Cup starts at Martinsville. … Dillon has not finished better than 25th in the last three races this season.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Corey LaJoie has three top-20 finishes in his first five races with the team. Bad news: The organization has not had a car finish better than 22nd in a Cup race at Martinsville.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher has finished 17th or better in each of the last seven races. That streak started with his Watkins Glen win. Bad news: Brad Keselowski has not finished better than 17th in the last five Martinsville races. … Buescher has never led a lap in 18 Cup starts at Martinsville.
Tyler Reddick’s last-lap pass of Ryan Blaney to win at Homestead rates as the best finish of the NASCAR Cup season.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar’s pit crew had the fastest four-tire pit stop at Homestead at 8.974 seconds, according to Racing Insights. … Hocevar’s pit crew also had the best four-tire pit stop average time of 9.526 seconds at Homestead, according to Racing Insights. … Justin Haley ranks second in the series in laps completed at 8,873. He’s run 99.3% of the laps this year. Bad news: Haley has never finished better than 27th in seven Cup starts at Martinsville. … Zane Smith has finished 31st and 34th in his two Cup starts at Martinsville.
Tyler Reddick becomes the second driver to advance to the Championship 4 race in Cup.
Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Chase Briscoe has had five consecutive top-10 finishes at Martinsville. … Josh Berry finished 11th at Homestead, marking his best result in the last 16 races. … Ryan Preece has three top 10s in the last seven races. … Preece has two top 10s in the last four short track races. Bad news: Noah Gragson has not finished better than 20th in three Martinsville Cup starts.
Team Penske — Good news: Joey Logano has scored 10 consecutive top 10s at Martinsville, the longest active streak. If Logano scores a top 10 this weekend, it will tie him with Dale Earnhardt Sr. for sixth on the list of all-time consecutive top 10s at Martinsville. … Ryan Blaney, who won last year’s playoff race at Martinsville, has nine top-five finishes in 17 Cup starts at the historic half mile track. Bad news: Austin Cindric has one top-10 finish in 17 career short track starts in Cup.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has finished in the top 10 in each of the past two short track races. Bad news: The last top 10 for Daniel Suarez at Martinsville was in March 2019.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton has finished in the top 20 in two of the last three races this year. Bad news: The last win for the Wood Brothers at Martinsville was April 1973 with David Pearson.
