Jeffrey Boswell

1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon, an eight-time winner at Martinsville, finished second in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, the best finish among Chase-eligible drivers. He leads the points standings by three over Ryan Newman.

1. Joey Logano: Logano finished 11th at Talladega as Penske teammate Brad Keselowski won, joining Logano and six others with a chance to win the Sprint Cup.

1. Joey Logano: With his spot in the Chase’s next round already locked up, Logano finished fourth at Charlotte, then watched as his Penske teammate went berserk afterwards.

1. Joey Logano: Logano took charge after a late restart and cruised to the win in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas. “I’ve already qualified for the next Chase round,” Logano said. “Some other driver lost tire pressure. Me? I just lost ‘pressure." “I’ve already qualified for the next Chase round,” Logano said. “Some other driver lost tire pressure. Me? I just lost ‘pressure.’”

“This elimination race didn’t produce quite the excitement NASCAR had hoped,” Keselowski said. “In fact, it was yawn-inducing. It was so boring that fans didn’t give a hoot; it was so boring that I didn’t give a tweet.”

"When I hit the wall,” Keselowski said, “I thought the worst. But the Chase is long and grueling, and won’t be won in a day. You’ve got to keep your eyes on the prize. For me personally, I’m able to see the ‘Lite’ at the end of the tunnel.”

“I automatically advanced to the next round of the Chase,” Keselowski said. “So you can pencil my name on the bracket to the ‘Contender’ round. And speaking of things written in pencil, the Chase format has seen more alterations than Bruton Smith’s pants.”

“Who was that ‘on the fence’ at Richmond?” Keselowski asked. “Was it Clint Bowyer? No. It was just a fan who obviously wasn’t ‘high’ enough.”

1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon was running second early at Atlanta when he blew a tire, sending him into the wall. He fell two laps down, but battled back to regain the lead lap and finished 17th.

1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon started second at Bristol but encountered handling issues that left him mid-pack for much of the race. He finished 16th, one lap down, and leads the Sprint Cup points standings by 27 over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.