HOMESTEAD, Fla. — There will surely be elaborate permutations to show all the possibilities of what awaits Sunday at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway, where six drivers will battle for the final two of four championship-eligible spots in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
If this guy does this, and this guy does this, or this guy doesn’t do this — well, the scenarios are endless.
So, perhaps a simpler mindset, like the one Denny Hamlin has right now, is the way to go: “Try to win it.”
That would work, too.
The season is entering its penultimate weekend, and good luck figuring out what might happen over the 500 laps around Martinsville’s tight oval this coming weekend. The season finale at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 5 will have a full race field, of course, but only two of these six drivers — Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Martin Truex Jr. — will leave Martinsville with a chance to battle Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson for the Cup Series title.