With Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe locked into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, the hunt for the final two spots is a pressure-packed brawl. Hamlin’s podium at Las Vegas sealed his sixth straight Final 4 berth, a testament to his veteran guile. Briscoe, the ex-Stewart-Haas wildcard, shocked with a Talladega triumph and backed it with most top-5s this year, proving JGR’s No. 19 Toyota is no fluke in his rookie year with the team.

Now, Martinsville’s paperclip looms, where six drivers, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Joey Logano, scrap for the last two seats. Bell and Larson cling to the cut line, but Blaney and Elliott, seventh and eighth, are the chaos agents, their Martinsville wins making them the ultimate spoilers. Hamlin’s not sleeping on them, spilling his take on who could flip the script.

Hamlin’s hot take

On his Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin laid it bare: “I think my point was is that while things looked like they’re pretty much in focus of who’s going to be in the final four, you just cannot undersell number seven and eight in points, Blaney and Elliott as being the two most wildest of wild cards going into this weekend. And if that happens, then the Bell Larson duel will be epic.”

Blaney’s 2023 Martinsville win clinched his title run, with five top-fives in six starts there, a short-track shark. Elliott’s 2020 Xfinity 500 stunner sent him to the championship, and his knack for clutch playoff punches makes him a threat. Hamlin’s calling it: these two could torch the standings, turning the Bell-Larson scrap into a blockbuster.

He doubled down: “I hear you, I, however, am fairly decent at Martinsville, and I know that if there are three people that I know I’m going to have to beat this weekend, two of them are seventh and eighth.” Hamlin’s no slouch, five Martinsville wins, 23 top-10s in 38 starts, and a 10.1 average finish, one of the best among active drivers.

His Next Gen record sparkles too, with a 2nd in April 2023 and 4th in October 2022. Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, though, are his kryptonite; their playoff pedigree and short-track swagger a match for JGR’s speed, ready to rumble when the track tightens.

He sealed the respect: “They’re in the picture every single time.” Elliott’s three straight Final 4 runs from 2020-2022, capped by the 2020 title, and Blaney’s 2023 crown with four top-fives in six Martinsville playoff starts scream consistency.

Together, they’ve notched seven Round of 8 appearances and four cutoff race wins since 2020, Kansas 2022, Talladega 2024, and Martinsville’s 2020 and 2023. Hamlin’s nod isn’t just talk; it’s a bow to two guys who thrive when the pressure’s red-hot, ready to wreck the expected at Martinsville’s meat grinder.

Hamlin’s Martinsville musings on playoff predators tie to his careful take on Spire Motorsports’ split with Justin Haley, a move he calls tough but fair.

Hamlin’s diplomacy

Haley, who grabbed Spire’s lone Cup win at Daytona 2019, floundered in the No. 7 Chevy in 2025, finishing 31st in points with one top-five and two top-10s, trailing teammates Michael McDowell (21st) and Carson Hocevar (23rd).

A mid-season crew chief swap and Rodney Childers’ brief nine-race stint couldn’t spark the No. 7, stuck below 28th since race 11. Hamlin weighed in: “I just never saw enough out of the #7 that I was seeing in the #77 or the #71. And so I don’t know the reason for that. I don’t know the company enough to know its strengths and weaknesses. Is it leadership? Is it engineering? Is it the pit crews far worse? Or is the driver not as good as the driver as the other two? I don’t know.”

He stayed neutral: “So, for me, it would all be speculation and I don’t really care to throw anyone under the bus, but certainly you can’t argue that the results were not there for whatever reason they were.” Like his caution about Blaney and Elliott stirring trouble, Hamlin’s holding back on pinning blame, a nod to the unpredictable chemistry of team, driver, and track.

Haley’s Rick Ware flashes showed promise, but Spire’s slump didn’t click, much like a Martinsville misstep could sink a playoff run. Hamlin’s diplomacy mirrors his racing respect: know the threats, play it smart, and don’t burn bridges before the big dance.