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Avondale, Ariz. • It's tense at Joe Gibbs Racing, regardless of what the drivers want you to believe as they head into a showdown with their seasons at stake.

There are only two spots left in NASCAR's title-deciding final race, and three Gibbs drivers want them. Carl Edwards, their teammate, is already in the final four and it had been the hope inside the organization that the finale would be Gibbs vs. Gibbs vs. Gibbs vs. Gibbs.

Jimmie Johnson's win in the opening race of the round of eight took a Gibbs sweep off the board, and now it's every man for himself on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. The trio of Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin are separated by two points in the standings but no matter what happens Sunday, only two of them can advance to the championship.

They all understand the math, and that teamwork only goes so far. What each is willing to do to advance their season one more week remains to be seen.

Hamlin made no apologies for his intent to move another car out of his way on the last lap Sunday if it means he will advance. But what if that car is a teammate?

"No, I would not," he said. Hamlin then gave a mischievous smirk: "That's my answer today."

Busch would barely entertain the question.

"Absolutely," Busch said, stone-faced.

JGR as an organization has mastered teamwork and sharing, despite expanding into a four-car team last year then adding Martin Truex Jr. as a de facto fifth car via a Toyota-engineered alliance. The approach led to Busch's title last year, a Daytona 500 win for Hamlin this year and four of the spots in the round of eight of NASCAR's playoffs.

There have been times, Hamlin admitted, that team owner Joe Gibbs has had to intervene in internal disputes. But they've learned that communication is key to keeping the peace.

"You can't keep feelings bottled up for years and years, and all of the sudden it all explodes," Hamlin said. "I think I have a great working relationship with all my teammates and if one of them wrecks me this weekend, I'll be mad for a couple days, and I'll get over it.

"I respect them all enough to understand that we're all competitors. But we're also teammates, so it's a fine line. You're going to have hurt feelings here and there, we're battling each other, which is what we all wanted to do."