MARTINSVILLE, Va. – With the NASCAR Cup Series championship race drawing near, pressure is heating up throughout the garage. For Hendrick Motorsports, three drivers have their title hopes alive and well heading into this Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway.
Saturday got off to a good start for the group with all four drivers advancing into the final round of qualifying. The feat is the first time that Hendrick Motorsports has had all four drivers qualify inside the top 10 at "The Paperclip".
RELATED: Driver averages: Martinsville
Chase Elliott will lead the way for Rick Hendrick's team from the front row. He'll roll off second on Sunday afternoon.
Closely following Elliott will be William Byron in third, Alex Bowman in seventh and Kyle Larson in ninth. The organization is looking to follow up a historic 1-2-3 result at Martinsville in April with another grandfather clock.
RELATED: NASCAR TV schedule for Martinsville
Points wise, Byron and Larson enter Martinsville with a chance to advance to the Championship 4 without having to win. The driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet holds the fourth spot on points, seven markers above Larson in fifth.
As for Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Racing team, victory lane is the goal. At 43 points below the cutline, solid finishes in both stages and trouble from the frontrunners could open a path to the Championship 4 on points, but that won't be the goal for Elliott. He'll aim to capitalize on his track position and score another walk off victory, just as he did during his title season in 2020.
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Here's a look at how the field will lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville.
NASCAR qualifying lineup for Martinsville
- Martin Truex Jr., No. 19
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Chase Briscoe, No. 14
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54
- Harrison Burton, No. 21
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Ryan Preece, No. 41
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Austin Dillon, No. 3
- Josh Berry, No. 4
- Joey Logano, No. 22
- Todd Gilliland, No. 38
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12
- Daniel Hemric, No. 31
- Christopher Bell, No. 20
- Michael McDowell, No. 34
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99
- Erik Jones, No. 43
- Ross Chastain, No. 1
- Kyle Busch, No. 8
- Austin Cindric, No. 2
- Noah Gragson, No. 10
- Chris Buescher, No. 17
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
- Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 16
- Justin Haley, No. 7
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
- Kaz Grala, No. 15
- Corey LaJoie, No. 51
- Josh Bilicki, No. 66
- Zane Smith, No. 71
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 (Did not qualify)
NASCAR TV schedule this weekend
Sunday, November 3
2 p.m. ET: Cup Series main event - NBC
NASCAR playoff standings Round of 8
| Driver | Wins this round | Margin to elimination |
| 1. Tyler Reddick | 1 | ADV |
| 2. Joey Logano | 1 | ADV |
| 3. Christopher Bell | 0 | +29 |
| 4. William Byron | 0 | +7 |
| ----------------- | ||
| 5. Kyle Larson | 0 | -7 |
| 6. Denny Hamlin | 0 | -18 |
| 7.Ryan Blaney | 0 | -38 |
| 8. Chase Elliott | 0 | -43 |
NASCAR practice results
Martin Truex Jr. was quickest in practice with a best lap of 19.918 seconds. Championship hopeful Denny Hamlin was third-fastest in practice before a mechanical issue caused the No. 11 entry to crash into the outside wall.
From Hendrick Motorsports, Elliott was fifth-quickest and spent 94 laps on the circuit during the 45-minute session.