And then there were four.
The NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 was set at the end of a controversial Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday and no changes are expected before the final at Phoenix on Sunday.
Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney all secured their spots with wins in the Round of 8, while William Byron qualified by the hair of his teeth as some questionable events unfurled behind him at Martinsville.
Byron’s fellow Chevrolet drivers Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain appeared to be blocking for him in the closing laps as Christopher Bell was chasing positions to grab enough points to get ahead of him in the standings.
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Bell’s last lap pass on Bubba Wallace initially had him level on points with Byron and ahead of him with a tiebreaker, but he was cited for a safety violation for riding the wall in the final turn and was docked positions as a penalty.
NASCAR is looking into whether any rules were broken by Dillon and Chastain as well as Bell’s fellow Toyota driver Wallace, who slowed dramatically on the last lap and allowed Bell to get the position he needed to catch Byron on points.
While further penalties could come, Byron is expected to keep his result and compete for the championship as planned. But will he win it?
Logano has three career victories at the track and Byron one, but Blaney and Reddick have yet to win there.
According to BetMGM, Blaney, who was coming off of a second place finish at Homestead-Miami when he won Martsinsville, is the odds-on favorite to win the race at +300.
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Byron is second at +450 and tied with Bell, who could play spoiler and steal the checkered flag like non-playoff driver Ross Chastain did in 2023. 2018 and 2022 champion Logano is fourth at +650 ahead of Reddick at +725.
Since the champion just needs to be the other three contenders and not win the race, the championship odds are slightly different.
BetMGM still has Blaney to win at +175 followed by Byron at +275 and Logano tied with Reddick at +325.
Of course, anything can happen after the green flag flies on Sunday, Nov. at 3 p.m. ET.