Five out of nine.

That's how many times Denny Hamlin has had mechanical problems in the playoffs, and if there is ever a time not to have problems under the hood, it is this Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz.

The Championship 4 travels west, where the center of attention will remain Hamlin -- the outspoken, shoot-from-the hip driver out of the Joe Gibbs Racing stable of Toyotas, which also fields the No. 19 car for Chase Briscoe, a first-year driver in the organization and one of the four title seekers.

The key for both is this: Neither has a title and likely never will have another chance to get one in the Game 7-like showdown scenario that Sunday's race provides.

But more on the latter part regarding the format later.

The two JGR drive

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