Joe Gibbs cars account for half of Round 3 field

Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin enter Martinsville still in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, along with Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano.

1. Gibbs go-go

Joe Gibbs Racing started the season strong with Denny Hamlin winning the Daytona 500, and is finishing strong. All four JGR Toyotas made it through to Round 3. Yeah, The Coach was happy. “We lost two of our cars last year in this round,” Gibbs said. “This round … you’ve got to be up front. Next round, you’ve got to win, so the further you go on in this format, now everybody’s geared up.”

2. Who’s left?

Joining the four Gibbs Toyotas (Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Hamlin) are two Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy drivers, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch; Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevy); and Joey Logano, the lone Ford driver still active in the playoffs. There are five former NASCAR Cup Series champs in the field who have won 10 titles between them. Johnson has six of those.

3. Truex tumbles

Martin Truex Jr. owned Round 1 by winning two races. He didn’t have the same luck in Round 2 and exited the playoffs with an exclamation point when his engine blew apart on Lap 41. “It’s a tough way to go out,” Truex said. He vowed to wreak havoc in the closing weeks of 2016. “It’s part of it and we’ll move on,” he said. “We’re going to go try to win the last five races or whatever is left and have a good end to our season.” It’s four races remaining, by the way.

GETTY IMAGES/BOB LEVERONE The gang’s all here and ready for NASCAR Chase Round 3. The Gibbs Racing driver lineup from left to right includes Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, joined by team owner Joe Gibbs, who has half the playoff field covered.