NASCAR at Martinsville 2015 Qualifying Results: Race Order, Times and Reaction – Bleacher Report

NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup shifts to the Eliminator Round with Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville. Only eight of the initial 16 Chase drivers are alive in the championship hunt, and heated tensions are assured to carry over to the half-mile paperclip—the final short track remaining. 

Points leader Joey Logano will go for his fourth straight win from the pole after turning in an average speed of 98.548 miles per hour Friday.

Logano is coming off a three-race sweep of the Contender Round with wins at Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega, bringing his season win total to six. Though he may be the favorite for what would be his first title, Logano is aware that chaos is lurking at every turn, per the NBC Sports telecast:

It’s an amazing run we’re on right now. This Shell-Pennzoil team, they’re unbelievable. I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive this thing right now. it’s so much fun. We’re doing everything right but all that can end in the blink of an eye, so we just gotta keep our focus. 

NASCAR showed Logano celebrating his sixth pole of the season in Victory Lane:

And that makes SIX. #CoorsLight https://t.co/KJqn1bvJ5Z

— #TheChase (@NASCAR) October 30, 2015

Here is a look at the rest of the qualifying results for the top 25 starters for Sunday:

The pole is Logano’s second at Martinsville this year, having claimed the top spot in the spring race, which he finished third.

In addition to starting at the front in a race where track position is vital, Logano also benefits from the first pit selection. At Martinsville, it’s nearly out of Turn 2, giving Logano a huge leg up in the proverbial race within the race, as he told NBC Sports.

“You’ve got to think that first pit stall is worth a few spots throughout the day,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to pass them on pit road than on the race track, and I’ve got an amazing pit crew here lately.”

Logano is one of five Chase drivers remaining who are winless at Martinsville. The three who have victories at the half-mile track are veterans Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon, who has won eight times at the track, tied for the most among active drivers. Gordon has yet to reach Victory Lane this year, his final season, but he is a dark horse for the title, per Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com:

“Of all the drivers one would expect to use the system to top-10 themselves into the Eliminator Round, Gordon wasn’t the one,” he wrote. “His team, he believes, has shown the grit it takes to be a champion. It just hasn’t had the performance of the race car to match.”

Tensions have mounted between a slew of drivers since the Chase started six weeks ago, and some have speculated they could continue at a track like Martinsville, where there’s little to no real estate.

Denny Hamlin accused Harvick of purposefully crashing into Trevor Bayne last week at Talladega to ensure a spot in the Eliminator Round, per Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press. A week prior, Logano spun out Matt Kenseth at Kansas in the final laps, courtesy of NASCAR:

With Kenseth, Hamlin and others out of the hunt and with nothing to lose, Martinsville could pose a chance for on-track vengeance.