NASCAR YellaWood 500 takeaways: Chase Briscoe wins OT thriller at Talladega 

Chase Briscoe rallied from an early speeding penalty and made the winning move around Bubba Wallace going into Turn 3 on the final lap of overtime to win a thriller at Talladega and secure his first trip to the Championship 4 in Phoenix.

Here are three takeaways from the middle race in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs:

Chase Briscoe takes overtime thriller at Talladega to punch Championship 4 ticket

A speeding penalty entering pit road during green-flag stops on Lap 43 put Briscoe behind early on Sunday, but he was not to be denied with an impressive drive to victory in overtime for his second win of the playoffs (Darlington). 

As Kyle Larson ran out of fuel going down the backstretch on the final lap, Briscoe took advantage of a huge push from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs to surge past Wallace in Turn 3 and hold off a hard-charging Todd Gilliland by 0.145 seconds to pick up his fifth career win and his first on a drafting-style track.

Briscoe led 16 laps on the day and joins JGR teammate Denny Hamlin in the Championship 4. Unlike Hamlin and the six remaining title-eligible drivers, Briscoe was the only one coming into the Round of 8 without a title race appearance. That is no longer the case after a thrilling overtime victory on the high banks of Talladega.

Chase Elliott facing must-win situation at Martinsville after early crash

Just 52 laps into Sunday's event at the 2.66-mile track, Elliott's title hopes took a massive hit when he was collected in a multi-car wreck late in Stage 1 and finished last in the 40-car field.

Elliott was the only playoff driver involved in the crash and did not have a shot at scoring stage points with the incident taking place before the conclusion of the opening stage.

Now faced with a 62-point deficit to the cutline, Elliott's objective is clear heading to Martinsville. As a past winner in the cutoff race at the half-mile track (2020), he has delivered with playoff elimination on the line before, proving he has what it takes to do so again if the opportunity presents itself.

Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske let one slip away

It all started with Elliott's early exit in Stage 1 and finished on an even sour note for HMS. William Byron and Larson were quiet for most of the race, but shared the front row for the overtime restart. While both had an excellent shot at the win, Larson finished 26th after running out of fuel and Byron was only one spot better in 25th after getting spun by Carson Hocevar entering the tri-oval on the final lap.

It was a similar story for Team Penske. Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney entered Talladega at the bottom of the playoff standings, but led a combined 38 laps and ran near the front for most of the day. After the race's final caution for Chris Buescher, the two came down pit road to top off for fuel and were unable to recover with Logano in 16th and Blaney in 23rd.

Although Larson (+36) only trails Christopher Bell (+37) above the cutline, Byron (-36), Logano (-38) and Blaney (-47) have their backs against the wall going to Martinsville. The Virginia short track has produced several walk-off moments before, though, which is exactly what each driver below the cutline will most likely need to make the championship race.