MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Martin Truex Jr. sits on the pole for the Sprint Cup race Sunday, and he represents a core of 32 drivers that fans should keep their eyes on in the opening race of the semifinal round at Martinsville Speedway.

All the drivers who no longer have a shot at the Cup title have no reason to worry about making any enemies. Some drivers are racing for their jobs. Others are probably just angry they still aren't in contention for the title when the Goody's 500 green flag drops.

Truex leads them all in frustration after a blown engine at Talladega ruined his Chase hopes.

"The vibe is everybody kind of has a little chip on their shoulder, and I think everybody wants to make sure that they show the other teams in the garage that we were for real and we just want to show them that we think we should still be going," Truex said. "But things happen and that's the way things go. It's racing.

"Guys are just working hard, they want to win races no matter where we're at, no matter what the situation is and I kind of share that mindset with them moving forward."

Starting beside Truex will be Chase driver Joey Logano and behind Truex will start Chase driver Jimmie Johnson. Then three more non-Chase drivers -- AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott and Tony Stewart -- hold starting spots four, five and six, ahead of a Joe Gibbs Racing trio of Chasers Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

Truex didn't join his Toyota brethren in advancing to this round.

"I thought about it every day and every night and I just kept telling myself to just go win Martinsville and I would feel a little bit better," Truex said. "[Winning the pole] is the first step in that direction."

It shouldn't be a surprise that those non-Chase drivers were fast, except for an upstart performance by Allmendinger in qualifying.

"Let's be honest, some of the fastest cars in this series got knocked out [from the Chase] last week, and it proves that with Truex getting the pole today, so obviously they have a fast race car," Logano said. "They're all out there trying to win."

Here are four other things (or people) to watch Sunday:

Joey Logano finally getting a clock: Logano had won the pole for three consecutive Martinsville races entering this weekend but still seeks his first Martinsville win and the grandfather clock that goes to the victor. He will start on the front row but this time on the outside Sunday beside Truex.

Just because Logano has won poles doesn't mean he has had great races at Martinsville. He led 108 laps on his way to finishing third in the March 2015 race and then had a dominating performance going when he led 207 laps before Matt Kenseth took him out a year ago.

But in April, he started first and found himself a lap down early in the race. He rallied to finish 11th.

Joey Logano would like to finally get that Grandfather clock. Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

"We took off from the pole and we were down a lap before the first caution, so the goal is not to do that again," Logano said. "I think we learned from that lesson, which is good. That happens a lot in this race.

"If you watch them all, is all of a sudden one car that you thought was really good in practice you're like, 'Wow, what happened to him on the long run,' and as the race goes it seems like it kind of mellows back out."

Jimmie Johnson and talk of 7: With nine wins at Martinsville and starting third, Johnson appears poised for another strong finish -- and a win would only send talk of his winning a seventh title into the stratosphere as he would have one of the four finalist berths at Homestead.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver has finishes of 32nd, 35th, 12th and ninth in his past four starts at Martinsville. He "only" has two wins in his past 14 starts at the track.

So Johnson won't think too much about No. 7. Not that he would anyway.

"This Chase has such a different feeling than Chases I've won in the past -- I still feel like I have this massive hurdle to get over to get into the final four [finalists]," Johnson said about thoughts of winning a seventh. "With that in mind, I have not gone there [in my mind].

"My chances are a lot better than they were three weeks ago for sure, but this format just requires such a different mindset and a different way to make it to the Final Four to even have a shot at the championship."

Brakes and breaks, bad ones, for Chase drivers: Brake failures and other mechanical issues can occur at Martinsville, especially on what will be a hot day -- in the low 80s -- for Martinsville this time of year.

And then there's this thing called pit road, and penalties at Martinsville can be devastating as track position is key.

Plus, the bad breaks might not even be self-inflicted. Ever try starting on the outside on a restart at Martinsville, especially near the end of the race?

It ain't pretty: "It's a challenge to get down," Logano said. "I'll be honest with you, it's hard. ... It's going to be hard because everyone [on the inside] sees that opportunity. You see that gap and they're like, 'Oh.' They're going to take it and they're going to charge it in there and just try to keep you up there [on the outside] for the next corner and then obviously as you're two-wide what does that do?

"The gap behind that person closes up because you're going slower because you're two-wide and then that guy catches up and it's like, 'Oh, we're just stuck.'"

Jeff Gordon: One Last Ride. Maybe: Saving the best for last, Gordon has nine career wins at Martinsville. This very well could be his last race. Remember the excitement of his win last year? The only thing that could top it would be a win, something he wished he could have done at Homestead to drop-the-mic but certainly not a bad way to go out.

Is this really Jeff Gordon's last ride? Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Gordon is driving in his final race as a substitute for Dale Earnhardt Jr. (concussion), and is driving a car prepared in the Hendrick 48-88 shop. During Gordon's past five years as a full-time driver at Hendrick, his No. 24 cars were prepared in a shop shared with the Hendrick No. 5 car.

"I feel like my car feels very similar to a No. 24 car that I've driven in the past," Gordon said. "It has good comfort, good speed and is doing a lot of the things that I like. I have been joking this year about when like at Dover I get to drive a Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus [No. 48] car and set-up.

"I was looking forward to that. Same thing is the case here. ... I would love to get these guys a great finish if this is my last race."