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.”

It’s hard to choose a favorite moment from the two decades-plus that I’ve watched Kurt Busch compete on the racetrack in NASCAR’s top levels.

Perhaps it's the famous battle to the checkered flag at Darlington vs. Ricky Craven.
Or Kurt being given the bird by Dale Earnhardt Sr. during the 2001 Daytona 500.
Or his running the NASCAR/Indy double and finishing 6th in the Indy 500.
Or his leadership at so many teams, from Roush and Penske to Phoenix Racing to Furniture Row to Stewart-Haas to Ganassi and finally 23XI
Or his winning the 2004 Cup series title in dramatic fashion after a close call, losing a tire as he was entering pit road during the race

I could go on, but you get the drift. The man did just about everything you could in this sport since entering the NASCAR ranks as a very young man in the late 1990s.

I say all this because we heard an emotional farewell this weekend from Kurt Busch at Daytona. He said he’s officially done with Cup racing as he continues to focus on his health after a qualifying crash at Pocono in 2022.

Things were heating up this weekend in Martinsville, both on the track and on pit road afterward. Here are my takeaways on what we learned this week in terms of the championship fight, and what that Logano-Hamlin fight was really all about.

Truex is top dog at Gibbs, Busch in the dumps

There is no more debate to be had. After his thoroughly dominating run to the checkered flag at Martinsville, Martin Truex Jr. and the 19 team are clearly the best chance that Joe Gibbs Racing has to win the Cup title this year.

Even if Truex, Hamlin and Kyle Busch all make it to the Homestead 4 (which at this point is very possible), former team leader Kyle Busch probably has the lowest chance at winning the title of the three. And honestly, the way things are going, he might not even be in the Final Four.

He’s been inching backward toward being a mid-pack car for what seems like a very long time now, he can’t figure out how to drive with this aero package as well as his teammates, and quite frankly doesn’t seem happy most of the time.