By Jared Turner If you watched Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway there was certainly much to applaud. The racing, particularly in the latter stages, was some of the fiercest and most intense NASCAR has seen all season. And the fact that Jeff Gordon ended a drought of more than a year and landed a place among the Championship 4 in the process made for a super-compelling storyline. About the only disappointment was that the final laps of the race were virtually run in the dark as the sun began to set. In the final few laps it became increasingly difficult for drivers…

By Jared Turner After Sunday’s wild and controversial finish to the Chase Contender Round elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway, it’s on to Martinsville Speedway for Race One of the Chase Eliminator Round. Eight drivers will arrive at Martinsville, the Sprint Cup Series’ shortest track, deadlocked atop the standings with 4,000 points apiece. Those drivers – Joey Logano, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch – are the only drivers still in the hunt for the Sprint Cup title with four races remaining. So who has the edge among the final eight men? While…