Sunday Setup: Championship implications start with crew-chief battles

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team led by crew chief Cliff Daniels are under no false illusions: One whale of a fight still lies ahead if they'd like to clinch the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Ahead of Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Daniels was met in the media center alongside the leaders of the three-headed monster of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas he's trying to fend off: No. 11 team leader Chris Gayle, No. 20 crew chief Adam Stevens and No. 19 shot-caller James Small. MORE: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Martinsville The playbook for the JGR trio is simply to attack with its fleet of Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe. Out front, Daniels is emphasizing another clear direction for Larson and Co.: Don't let up now. "Our game plan hasn't changed a lot the last handful of weeks, even with the ups and downs, and I think that that's probably true for all of us sitting here," Daniels said. "We've all seen, and we're all very aware of how quickly the points can swing. So every week, you've just got to be focused on maximizing your day and whatever that's going to take. This is certainly a race where the 11 (Hamlin) can go lead all 500 laps, and we've still got to have a strong day. So our game plan really hasn't changed much." Gayle, Hamlin and the No. 11 team are the closest within range to put heat on Larson's back bumper, but even they are a distant 73 points back entering Sunday's 500-lapper. The good news is they have quickly found success together in their three races at Martinsville: one win (2025 spring), a second-place finish (2026 spring) and a staggering amount of laps led (274 in 2025 spring; 292 in 2026 spring). Gayle's job is to deliver another Toyota Hamlin's way, packed with the feel Hamlin needs to effectively navigate Martinsville's 0.526-mile layout. "When I came over in '25, he thought he was in a spot where he didn't have exactly what he needs, so it was an opportunity to kind of experiment with something a little different, which we obviously did out of the gate," Gayle said. "And I think we've just kind of exploited what we've done there more each time, and I think that direction has been correct for us. But yeah, definitely. I mean, from our perspective, it's a really clear (goal): Go get all the points, be as aggressive as possible to stay in contention going into next week." The Goodyear Racing tires used this weekend are the same ones utilized in each of the last two Martinsville races. Larson has fifth- and ninth-place finishes on this tire at Martinsville; Hamlin's runner-up effort in the spring was preceded by a blown engine last fall. Larson and Daniels have been quite strong at the 0.526-mile oval, rattling off eight consecutive top-10 finishes. But Daniels is still hesitant to rely on that past success, especially considering this right-side tire is the same compound that was used at Phoenix Raceway on Oct. 18, when the No. 5 team suffered its worst race of The Chase at Phoenix Raceway, averaging a 23rd-place running position before crashing with a flat tire. "Gosh, Phoenix was such a bad miss for us that you still always have that asterisk of the short-track package on this tire," Daniels said. "And we've certainly had a decent notebook here at Martinsville for a while. Our teammates have been strong. The 9 (Chase Elliott) and the 24 (William Byron) have been really strong here historically and consistently. And we've also consistently been a top-10 car. So we're not straying too far from home [on car setup]. Still have to evolve as the sport does, as the field does of things that you learn and apply. So yeah, we'll see, but certainly trying to put it all together this weekend." The No. 11 team is thinking about the next steps forward as well. Those adaptations proved to work well in Saturday's qualifying session as Hamlin wheeled the No. 11 Toyota to the Busch Light Pole Award, his second pole of The Chase and sixth of the season. Larson will start third. "If you bring back the exact same thing, typically that doesn't work well for you, right?" Gayle said. "You knew regardless of how many laps you led (in the spring), we didn't win the race, and there were things we could still improve on. And so you're always looking to find setup changes, tweaks that improve those things that you still need help with, right? And so I think that's been our big focus."