Power Rankings: Kyle Busch putting pieces together before favorable Round of 8

8. Ryan Blaney (--)


Comment: Blaney starting out the Round of 8 in, well, eighth, is more about the caliber of the drivers remaining than not believing in him -- a Homestead-Miami Speedway appearance is still on the table, for sure. His Martinsville Speedway career got off to a rough start, with a best finish of 19th in his first three races, but he has averaged a finish of 8.75 over his last four.

7. Kyle Larson (--)


Comment: Larson is certainly still in the mix for a Championship 4 appearance, he just might have to overcome the hole he's likely to dig himself into after Martinsville. It's not only his worst track remaining, it's his worst overall. An average finish of 23.6 in 11 starts has been sunk by just one finish inside the top 10 there.

6. Joey Logano (--)


Comment: Logano is the defending winner of this race after leading a very routine, non-dramatic 309 laps (just kidding). The Team Penske driver won the spring Martinsville pole, as well, but then led just five laps en route to a 19th-place finish. Still, as long as he can keep it clean Sunday (big if), the track should offer a strong opportunity to stabilize Logano before the two strong remaining Round of 8 tracks.

5. Chase Elliott (+4)


Comment: The runner-up in the spring's Martinsville race, Elliott also owns top 10s in half of his eight starts at "The Paperclip." Currently riding the high of just barely making the cut at Kansas Speedway, look for Elliott to be a strong contender this weekend.

4. Kevin Harvick (-1)


Comment: First, the good: Harvick has four straight top 10s at Martinsville, three of which were in the top six. The bad: "Happy" has no laps led at "The Paperclip" since 2016 and led more than one lap there in just three of the last 14 races. He hasn't seen the front of the field at Martinsville a whole lot lately, but Harvick's hopes for a Homestead-clinching win bode well later in the Round of 8.

3. Kyle Busch (+1)


Comment: Busch is starting to rebound from some hit-and-miss weeks the second half of the season, and it couldn't be coming at a better time. The Round of 8 lines up super well for the No. 18 driver, who won this race two years ago and had 100 laps led en route to a P4 from the pole last year. He's one of just two remaining playoff drivers with multiple Martinsville wins and has 16 top fives in 28 Martinsville starts.

2. Denny Hamlin (--)


Comment: Hamlin has an incredible opportunity ahead of him to win back-to-back races this weekend at Martinsville after putting on a show the second half of the Kansas race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver's five grandfather clocks are most among playoff drivers -- as are his whopping 1,536 laps led at his home track.

1. Martin Truex Jr. (--)


Comment: The war isn't over for a few more weeks, but can Truex win the battle this time? The JGR driver and 2017 champion has the most Martinsville starts without a win but finally knocked the short-track monkey off his back earlier this season and has been the playoffs' most consistent driver. He's expected to be a fixture at Miami, and he could punch his ticket there Sunday.