When Talladega was included as part of this final elimination round of the 2025 playoffs, it was sure to be a Wild Card. Everyone wondered just how this unpredictable round would play out as the Final Four was determined.

Interestingly, despite lots of drama, a common trend returned at the end of the Talladega race — Joe Gibbs Racing contenders stepping up when it mattered most. The flagship Toyota team, fresh off a Vegas win by Denny Hamlin to lock into the Final Four, took the victory with Chase Briscoe at Talladega (after a strong push from teammate Ty Gibbs on the final lap). Now, two JGR drivers (Denny Hamlin and Briscoe) are going to contend for the title at Phoenix, and their third playoff driver Christopher Bell sits 37 points above the cutoff line heading into Martinsville this weekend.

In what is likely the final Cup series championship decided under this one-race Final Four format, JGR and Toyota have stepped up to take the reins and dominate the playoffs in 2025, and are likely to have a 75 percent chance of claiming the title at Phoenix — a feat also accomplished by JGR previously in 2019 (Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin).

“I don’t know what’s more unbelievable – the fact that we’re going to the Championship 4 or that I won a superspeedway race. It’s unbelievable,” Briscoe said after his win. “Super excited to try to get some redemption and have a shot to win a championship. It’s going to be just an unbelievable opportunity.”

There’s something about the 54 car this year in the Xfinity Series. The car has taken an amazing 11 checkered flags in the 2021 season: 5 courtesy of Cup champion Kyle Busch (who thankfully has moved on from Xfinity racing, allegedly); 1 from Truck Series regular John Hunter Nemechek, 1 from Cup racer Christopher Bell, and — most curiously — four from the young man they call Ty Gibbs (aka the team owner’s grandson). Gibbs had an amazing Saturday at Kansas, winning the Xfinity race, taking the ARCA pole, and nearly winning the ARCA race (he lost on the final restart). Oh, and he also claimed the ARCA championship.

Did I mention Ty Gibbs is only 19 years old (yes, he was born in October of 2002, in case you didn’t already feel old).

The hype around him is unlike anything we’ve seen about a young driver like this since, perhaps, Joey Logano in his “sliced bread” days. (Of note: The team Logano drove as a teen — Joe Gibbs Racing)