Bubble Watch, presented by Xfinity: More moments to be made at Martinsville

It's time to set the Championship 4 field at Martinsville Speedway! Sunday's race (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) will determine the final two drivers joining Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell in the quest for the title at Phoenix. 

The six vying for the final two spots are mostly successful at Martinsville; making for what could be a battle for the history books this Sunday. See the outlook for all six drivers with the final 2023 edition of Bubble Watch, presented by Xfinity. 

(Stats provided by Racing Insights)

William Byron

Points above elimination line: 30

Trending: Red hot

Martinsville outlook -- Hit or miss: Another big points day at Homestead has the No. 24 team in a comfortable spot heading to a track Byron has been very good at recently with top-five finishes in three of the last five events on the short track. 

Ryan Blaney

Points above elimination line: 10

Trending: Hot

Martinsville outlook -- Warm: Despite being winless at Martinsville, Blaney is among the best to ever compete at the track in terms of average finish (9.5). Sunday should be Blaney's breakthrough moment into his first Championship 4. 

Tyler Reddick

Points below elimination line: 10

Trending: Hot

Martinsville outlook -- Cold: Short tracks have been Reddick's Achilles' Heel so far in his Cup career. With Martinsville being one of his worst tracks, the No. 45 will need a strong qualifying spot and keep track position all day Sunday. 

Martin Truex Jr.

Points below elimination line: 17

Trending: Mostly cold

Martinsville outlook -- Hit or miss recently: Truex mastered Martinsville between 2019-2021 before the introduction of the Next Gen car, but has been on and off with one third-place finish and two finishes of 20th or worse in the last three races at the track. With a huge points margin to make up, a poor postseason campaign may come to an end on Sunday. 

Denny Hamlin

Points below elimination line: 17

Trending: Hit or miss recently

Martinsville outlook -- Warm: Before Homestead, Hamlin had a solid postseason campaign going and had momentum and confidence that made it seem a Champ 4 berth was all but inevitable for the No. 11 team. Now 17 down, Hamlin will need to string together his best performance of the year at his home track.

Chris Buescher

Points below elimination line: 43

Trending: Mostly cold

Martinsville outlook -- Cold: With just one top-10 result at Martinsville, Buescher's hopes of making the Championship 4 don't seem likely, but there could be something to having the simplest path to punching a ticket — winning.