NASCAR Xfinity 500 preview: Favorite, underdog, top storylines

On Sunday, the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series will take on the half-mile Martinsville Speedway in the penultimate race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Here's what you need to know before Sunday's Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). 

Favorite: Ryan Blaney (+400, per DraftKings) 

Blaney, who must win on Sunday to advance to the Championship 4, has won the last two Martinsville fall races. It won't be an easy path to victory for the 2023 Cup Series champion on Sunday, as he'll start the race from 31st place. 

Underdog: Bubba Wallace (+2800, per DraftKings) 

Wallace was fourth-quickest in practice on Saturday and is a former Martinsville winner in the NASCAR Truck Series. He finished third at Martinsville in March and is hoping to play spoiler to the playoff drivers on Sunday. 

Title hopes on the line 

Of course, the focus of Sunday's race will be the postseason fight. Six drivers are fighting for the two remaining spots in the Championship 4, with four of those drivers — Blaney, Joey Logano, William Byron and Chase Elliott — needing to win on Sunday to advance. Should one of those drivers win, the battle for the final spot would become a points battle between Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson, who are separated by just one point in the standings going into Sunday's race. 

Penske struggles in practice 

Blaney and Logano came into the weekend as two of the favorites, but overwhelming speed was not shown by the Penske Fords in practice. Logano and Blaney were ninth and 11th on the speed chart, respectively, and while that's not awful, it's certainly not the kind of speed they need on Sunday. 

Hendrick shows its muscle in qualifying

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Hendrick Motorsports came in clutch in qualifying. William Byron scored the pole, while Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will start third and eighth, respectively. With all three HMS drivers needing big days to advance, good starting spots will certainly help their cause.