Team Penske will need another Martinsville miracle to make Championship 4

Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway was a golden opportunity for Team Penske. 

With two of the best superspeedway racers in NASCAR in Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano behind the wheel of two fast Ford Mustangs, things were looking up for Penske in Stage 3 of the YellaWood 500. Logano led the most laps of any driver on the afternoon (35) while Blaney led three and was often in lockstep with Logano. 

Penske's Talladega speed doesn't translate to results

But things unraveled for the two champions in the closing laps. After the field came down pit road for the final time with less than 20 laps to go, both Blaney and Logano were close in regard to fuel mileage. 

With two laps to go, Chris Buescher spun down the backstretch and forced the race into NASCAR overtime — which also forced Blaney and Logano to pit for fuel. 

That put Logano and Blaney deep in the pack for the final two laps. When the checkered flag flew, Logano finished 16th. Blaney finished 23rd. Both drivers will need a win at Martinsville to keep their title hopes alive. 

As it turned out, fuel mileage didn't only bite Team Penske. Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson ran out of gas on the final lap and finished 26th. The difference? Larson is 36 points above the cut line going into Martinsville. 

Logano (-38) and Blaney (-47) have to win next week, and in a best-case scenario, barring a miraculous points comeback, only one Penske driver can fight for a title at Phoenix. 

The good news? Blaney has won the last two Martinsville fall races, while Logano won the 2018 Martinsville fall race. Both drivers know how to win postseason races at "The Paperclip," and one of them will have to next week if Penske is to win its fourth consecutive Cup Series title.