Kyle Busch eliminated from Chase after hard crash at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — What looked to be the best Chase for the Sprint Cup run of Kyle Busch's career turned out to be all for naught.

Busch was shockingly eliminated from the Chase after crashing at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, which left him as one of four drivers out of the next round despite five straight top-10 finishes to open the playoff.

He entered Talladega needing just a 24th-place finish to secure a berth in the next round; he left with a 40th-place finish and no comment, making a brisk walk out of the garage after coming seven points short.

"Just really disappointed for Kyle," team owner Joe Gibbs said on pit road after the race. "Nothing went our way there, really. … We had our biggest lead with that car and all we had to do was kind of get through with an average day."

It didn't happen. Despite a conservative strategy which saw Busch run at the rear of the field for most of the race, he was swept up in a crash involving backmarkers with 85 laps to go. He drove back to the garage and waited in the team hauler while the team made repairs, then re-entered the race 48 laps behind the leaders.

Still, it seemed as if Busch might make the cut despite his troubles. He entered the race with such a comfortable lead over the bubble drivers — he was second in the point standings prior to the race — that no one really considered he could be eliminated. And when he came back on the track, it helped him pick up three points toward the cutoff line.

Ultimately, he fell short. There he was, one of NASCAR's top talents leaving the track after another Chase disappointment. Despite 29 career wins, Busch's best career points finish is fourth.

"I think where we are with now with three-race playoff, you can't afford to have something big happen," Gibbs said. "That's where we are. You can be real consistent, but if you have one bad experience at the wrong time, you're going to wind up in trouble."

Crew chief Dave Rogers praised Busch as "a great leader of this race team" and said Busch has "done a really good job of biting his lip."

"I can't say enough good about him," Rogers said. "I'm really proud of him. It's been a lot of fun working with him and we're not done yet."

Still, Busch would be only 35 points out of the lead under the old 10-race Chase format. That would mean he could still win the title with four races to go; now, he cannot finish higher than fifth.

Is that fair?

"It's a fair format because they give us the rules before the Daytona 500," Rogers said. "We all signed up to play. … I'm bitter and I'm discouraged, but I'm not going to sit there and say it's unfair. The rules are the rules; they didn't change them halfway through Talladega."