Martin Truex Jr.'s seasons in peril following Homestead in conjuction with..

Joe Gibbs has worked in competitive sports for decades, so he knows all a team needs is a chance to have hope.

So when he sees two of his NASCAR Cup Series championship favorites now with their backs against the wall going into the elimination race next Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, he has hope.

Regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. and regular-season runner-up Denny Hamlin sit 17 points behind the current cutoff heading into Martinsville. Two spots remain to be among the Championship 4. Truex and Hamlin can advance either with a win or by making up the deficit.

Joe Gibbs Racing knows it will have at least one driver in the Championship 4 thanks to Christopher Bell’s victory on Sunday. He might be the only one to advance among the three JGR drivers who made it to the Round of 8.

“It’s hard to get in the Final 4, I’ll tell you that,” Gibbs said. “I don’t think anything’s a given. Certainly the 19 [of Truex], all they did in the regular season as good as they are, but we’ve had real disappointments with everything that’s happened.

“The 11 [of Hamlin] has been pretty consistent up until the last couple of weeks. I think you’re looking at it, and the great thing is we have three cars for our team that have a chance. We still got a chance. That’s the way we look at it. We’re going to Martinsville, it’s going to be a classic I’m sure. But we do have a chance when we go there with both Denny and Martin.”

Making it in on points is not impossible. William Byron is in a solid position to get a spot on points as he sits 20 points ahead of Ryan Blaney and then 30 points ahead of Tyler Reddick, currently the first driver who would miss on points. Reddick is 10 points behind Blaney. Chris Buescher is 43 points behind and in a virtual must-win situation.