NASCAR Elimination Race At Martinsville Could Be ‘A Test Of Morals’

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano of Team Penske clearly understands what it will take to advance to the November 2 NASCAR Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.

He has to win Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Logano enters the final elimination race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs 38 points below the cutline, so he knows his hopes of gaining entry through the points is slim at best.

The best way to guarantee that he will get a chance to race for a fourth NASCAR Cup Series Championship is to win to get in.

That creates a moral dilemma.

“We’ve seen so many times desperate people do desperate things and what are you willing to do and can you justify that in your mind somehow,” Logano said Saturday afternoon at Martinsville. “It’s tough because it’s a true test of your morals, if I’m being honest.

“There are times you’re just like, ‘Is this the right thing to do or not?’ And to your point, you kind of have to think about that stuff beforehand.”

When Desperation And Morals Intersect On The Track

NASCAR racing at Martinsville Speedway is 500 laps of short track, fender-banging action. Drivers often use the technique known as the “Bump and Run” to move a car in front of them out of the way.

Other drivers who are desperate sometimes add a little too much to the bump, sending another car into the wall.

Tempers flare during the race and often boil over afterward.

“Every action has a reaction and most likely depending on what you do to get in, you’ve still got to race next week,” Logano continued. “I’ve said it before, you may get in the Championship 4, but if don’t win it, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s nice to say you got there, but if you didn’t win, you don’t get the trophy, does it really matter?

“Not really.

“So, you have to think more than just the race ahead of you. There’s going to be a race next week. The same drivers will be out there. The same cars. You’ve got to think about all that stuff.”

How It Shapes Up At Martinsville

Denny Hamlin won two weeks ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Chase Briscoe won last week’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. They are both locked into the November 2 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix International Raceway.

The final two positions of the “Championship 4” will be determined Sunday evening in Martinsville, Virginia.

Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing is third in points, 37 above the cutline and Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports is fourth, 36 points ahead of the bump line.

The four drivers that are below the cutline entering Martinsville are William Byron of Hendrick Motorporst, 36 points out, three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano of Team Penske, 38 out. The final two drivers are even further back, including seventh-place Ryan Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Champion who is 47 points out and Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports, 62 points out.

For the drivers below the cutline, they have to win to get in. But if one of those drivers wins the race, then Bell and Larson will have to fight it out for the final position that would go to the highest-finishing driver not locked in by a victory.

If Hamlin, Briscoe or any driver not in the Round of 8 wins, then the final two positions would be based on points.

“What makes this one so unique is there are four who have to win,” Hamlin told me late Saturday night. “There are really six drivers that are in that position.

“Hopefully, everyone does a really good job at telling that story.”

‘Win To Get In’

The only certain path for those drivers is to “win to get in,” whatever it takes.

“It’s still a hard place to be,” Logano lamented. “It’s a very challenging place to put us and I’m not saying I’ve done the right thing every time, but I can’t really think of things in my mind that I look back at and go, ‘Gosh, that was the wrong play.’

“I haven’t done anything that I can say that I feel like personally, and probably others will disagree, but, to me, a bump and run in Turn 3 to make it to the Championship 4 is fine. Completely wiping him out and dumping him and backing him into the fence?

“Probably too far. That’s my opinion. Everyone is going to have a different one.”

As one of the drivers who doesn’t have the pressure to get in, Briscoe completely understands what Logano is saying. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver wants to use Martinsville as a tune-up for the Championship Race next week.

“Outside of Christopher Bell and Kyle Bell, everybody has to race for the win, but if one of those bottom guys is leading, then it puts those two in a big dilemma of what one spot is worth and what you are willing to do,” Briscoe explained. “It depends on who is leading the race.

“Joey is pretty straightforward. He isn’t going to move a guy for seventh because it doesn’t do anything for him, but certainly for the win, that’s a totally different story.

“It will have a lot of storylines and a lot of drama in this race.”

A Test Of Morals

That leaves Logano evaluating his moral dilemma. He wants to earn the victory but knows it won’t be easy.

“We’re not in the spot we want to be in, but there’s still a chance,” Logano said. “We’re not out yet. It’s not the best position to be in, but it’s pretty simple on what to do unless something crazy happens in the first 50 laps to the other guys, which I wouldn’t expect. It’s pretty clear what we’ve got to do.

“We have to go out there and win and do whatever we’ve got to do to do it.”

For any of the drivers that have to win to get in, the conclusion of Sunday night’s Martinsville Speedway elimination race could end up as a morality play.