Three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers entered Talladega within 31 points of standings leader Kyle Larson, but with the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s victory at the 2.66-mile track their only hope of claiming this year’s NASCAR Cup championship rests with a win at Martinsville speedway.
“I’d be lying if I felt like all of us didn’t have the wind let out of our sails a little bit (at Talladega),” Chase Briscoe said. “It’s still very, very much possible, but you’re going to have to do something pretty extraordinary. Even if you do go have two amazing days, you still have to have some help with the 5 car (Larson).”
The JGR contingent enters Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville with Denny Hamlin 73 points behind Larson in second. Then comes Christopher Bell 74 points in arrears and Briscoe 79 points back.
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“It just feels different going into this week than in Talladega, but ultimately, you still have to go win the race,” Briscoe said. “If you don’t go win the race, it doesn’t really change anything.”
The maximum number of points a race winner can receive is 76 points. That’s winning both Stages, the race, and a point for posting the fastest lap.
Briscoe said watching Larson go from 11th to first in less than a lap to win the Talladega race provided him with the “craziest range of emotions I feel like I’ve ever experienced.” He described Larson’s Talladega victory as “definitely not an ideal situation.” Briscoe even called what Larson has been able to do, winning three of eight Chase races and posting an average finish of 6.5, “amazing.”
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“What the 5 group has been able to do if they can sustain that for the next two weeks, they deserve to be the champion,” Briscoe said.
Still, Briscoe believes this year’s championship is within his reach.
“When we were able to win two races back-to-back earlier in the Chase, I basically cut that deficit off in two races, and that’s with the 5 car having two … top-five runs,” Briscoe continued. “Even in those two races we won back-to-back, the second one we didn’t even have a clean sweep day. It’s just you have to win this weekend. That’s the big thing. I’m still going in with the approach that I can definitely win the championship. In pro sports in general… anything can happen.”
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.