Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports facing brutal double elimination at Martinsville

After a thrilling finish at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, the latest NASCAR Cup Series standings are in, and they don't make for comfortable reading if you are Hendrick Motorsports or Team Penske.

Whilst Chase Briscoe's win in Alabama has ensured Joe Gibbs Racing now has two drivers locked into the Championship 4, Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske head into Sunday's elimination race at Martinsville knowing multiple of their stars could be eliminated from title contention.

With Christopher Bell in third after Talladega, Kyle Larson is the only driver from the two teams currently inside the top four on points, with William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott all facing the cut by a significant margin at present.

Realistically, those drivers now need a win at Martinsville on Sunday to advance, but anyone below the cutoff line winning is bad news for Bell and Larson, who, in that scenario, would be batting it out to be the last star to advance via points.

It's certainly going to be fascinating to see how things play out on Sunday!

NASCAR Cup Series standings post-Talladega/pre-Martinsville

Here is how the full playoff picture looks ahead of this weekend's elimination race.