The Sylvania 300, the second race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, will fire up on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and there is plenty of drama and intrigue heading into the showdown.

Matt Kenseth, who won the Sprint Cup championship in 2003, leads in the standings after his victory in the Geico 400 at Chicago last week.

Kyle Busch, who just missed the Chase last year, is seeking his first Sprint Cup title, eight points behind Kenseth.

After a brutal first race in the Chase that saw Michael Waltrip Racing get penalized 50 points, the unlucky Martin Truex Jr.—who had nothing to do with the penalty—looks to pick up the pieces.

Here's a preview of the 2013 Sylvania 300, complete with TV info, the lineup and the current Sprint Cup standings.

Where: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H.

When: Sunday, Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. ET

Watch: ESPN

Live Stream: FoxSports.com

Lineup

Bob Pockrass/Sporting News

Drivers to Watch

Matt Kenseth

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

First and foremost, current Sprint Cup points leader Matt Kenseth has been on fire in 2013 after switching from Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing at the start of the season.

The 41-year-old hasn't won the Sprint Cup Championship since 2003. You may remember that year came with some controversy. While Kenseth posted 11 top-five finishes and 25 top-10 finishes on the year, he only had one victory, leading to some drivers calling for a change in the points and playoff systems. New systems were put in place for the 2004 campaign.

Well, Kenseth has plenty of wins this year, racking up six victories, as well as seven top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes. He's coming off of a win at the Geico 400 at Chicago.

Martin Truex Jr. 

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

It's been a pretty rough couple of weeks for Martin Truex Jr.

The 33-year-old would have qualified for a wild card in the Chase on Sept. 7 at Richmond International Speedway but was assessed a 50-point penalty from NASCAR's sanctioning body after teammates Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers spun out and pitted on command, respectively.

Not only that, NAPA opted to pull its sponsorship at the end of the year after the ordeal.

Truex now finds himself in 17th place in the Sprint Cup standings. He's slotted in the fifth position at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, looking to bounce back from a perfect storm.

Kyle Busch

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Busch has never won the Sprint Cup Championship, but he placed fifth in 2007 and has posted a top-15 finish every year since.

The 28-year-old finds himself in second place headed into the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, eight points behind Kenseth. He has four wins, 12 top-five finishes and 16 top-10 finishes on the year. He's coming off of a second-place finish in the Geico 400 at Chicago.

Last year, Busch just missed the Chase, finishing 13th in the Sprint Cup standings. But instead of lamenting over the disappointment, Busch has called it a "learning experience," per Michael Vega of the Boston Globe.

It's that kind of positive outlook—not mention, an impressive 2013 campaign—that has Busch's peers thinking he could win it all this year.

Up-to-Date Standings