NASCAR Cup Series

"Martinsville [Speedway] is my favorite track right behind Bristol [Motor Speedway]. I've always been a fan of the short tracks and Martinsville fits the bill. It's definitely a driver's track and it's so physically challenging for us. You have to hit your marks so perfectly at Martinsville because one small mistake means you get stuck on the outside.

"This is a special race for us because we get to pay tribute to a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee. Jerry Cook was a six-time Modified champ, and he'll get inducted with the Class of 2016 coming up in January. But this weekend at Martinsville, we're going to have a replica paint scheme like one of his old Modifieds.

"It's an honor to run this paint scheme paying tribute to a Hall of Fame inductee," Gilliland said. "It's hard enough to win one championship in any racing series, but Jerry won six. That's dominant.

"Martinsville has been a great track for us throughout my career, so it will be important to go there and try to lead every lap and win the race with our FedEx team. There are still trophies to get this season and we plan on doing our best to end the year on a high note.”

CAMRY CHASERS: Two Camry drivers have advanced to the ‘Eliminator’ round of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship playoff. With the points reset for this three-race stint, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch each have an equal chance to contend for the title. The Eliminator Round consists of races on the half-mile Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, the 1.5-mile oval of Texas Motor Speedway and the one-mile flat track of Phoenix International Raceway -- before another four drivers will be cut from contention prior this year’s final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway where four drivers will vie for the trophy.

Biffle has 25 Sprint Cup Series starts at Martinsville. In those starts he has earned five top-10 finishes, two of which came in 2013 with back-to-back top-10 finishes.

After surviving Talladega and advancing to the Eliminator Round of 8, Martin Truex Jr. gave a quick assessment about the next three Chase races, starting with Sunday’s Goody’s 500 at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

1. Joey Logano: Logano won the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega, taking the checkered flag under caution for his third straight win.

JEFF GORDON: I'm excited. I think a lot of people didn't count on us to do this or expect it. I think for us, we're carrying just a lot of confidence and momentum and pride right now knowing that we've had to grind it out just to get ourselves in the Chase. That grind and that fight that we have in us is what we've been putting out there these last six weeks that have gotten us to this round."

'ALMOST PERFECT' AT 'DEGA: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet SS, finished an agonizingly close second to Joey Logano at Talladega Superspeedway last week after leading 61 laps during what he described as an “almost perfect” day.