NASCAR.com's Alex Weaver previews what's to be an exciting Sunday race at Martinsville Speedway as the elimination line tightens its grip on the Cup Series Playoff field.
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00:00 There's only one chance to lock into the championship four. I am Alex Weaver and
00:04 welcome to Martinsville Speedway for the penultimate race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
00:09 season. This is it. We will know the four drivers that are racing for a championship after today's
00:14 race. Right now, two drivers are locked in on wins in the round of eight, Kyle Larson and Christopher
00:19 Bell. But if you check out the standings, the next driver in would be William Byron, who has a 30
00:25 point cushion. But after a struggling qualifying session Saturday at Martinsville, he has a lot of
00:30 work to do on Sunday. Try to drive as hard as I can every lap and see where that puts us. I mean,
00:35 I can't do much more than I've already done all year. You know, we've won a lot of races and we've
00:40 have the best average finish. So we do a good job throughout the races. So I'm not worried about our
00:45 execution of driving. William Byron will roll off 16th for today's race. Now, if it were to all end
00:51 right now, it would be Byron joined by Ryan Blaney, who would lock into the championship four. But
00:56 there are 500 miles of the short track of Martinsville to tackle and three hungry Toyotas
01:02 below the elimination line, two of which are Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Martin Shrycks Jr.
01:07 and Denny Hamlin. Now, Denny Hamlin spoke to the media on Saturday and said that he would much
01:11 rather be heading into today's race in Ryan Blaney's position. I certainly would rather be in
01:18 Blaney's position, but also I know that like I can be in full offense for the entire race
01:24 this time around. I don't have to play D. I don't have to be a little bit, you know, more careful.
01:30 It's just one one mode right from the get go. So, yeah, I mean, it's just as part of the format that
01:37 unfortunately, you know, is out of the driver's hand, whether it's a hail mail and move or
01:42 mechanical or whatever it might be, it still equally stings for sure. And quickly on his
01:49 first lap of 2011, he won't shut it down. And Martin Shrycks Jr. wins the pole. Ran third here
01:56 in the spring, which I think was a big deal after struggling last year. So I think we're putting it
02:00 together. But qualifying is always fun here. And it's nice to get a pole with that first pit stall.
02:06 Such a big deal here. So excited to have that. And hopefully, you know, we can work on a car
02:11 tonight, get it better. It wasn't quite I feel like what we needed for the long runs today.
02:14 So that's going to be what we need to work on tonight. And that's really going to
02:18 show us how we can race tomorrow. Martin Shrycks Jr. goes back to back for the bushlight pole
02:24 and will lead the field to green for today's race. Who will fall and who will rise to the occasion?
02:30 Two other drivers will join Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell in the championship four
02:34 and race for a title next week. Make sure and tune in 2 p.m. Eastern on NBC.
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