Kansas hurt many Chase drivers chances at a title

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Tony Stewart, who at one point was a step, or a few raindrops, away from Kansas Speedway's Victory Lane on Sunday in the LifeLock 400, was an integral player in two interconnected melees in the closing stages that led the race to be shortened a second time and drastically affected the outcomes for four Chase for the Nextel Cup contenders.

Kurt Busch, who won the first Chase for the Nextel Cup title in 2004, could only shake his head after he exited his hauler with a scrambling 11th-place finish that enabled him to pick up two spots in the standings, to ninth.

Lap-by-Lap

There was bunches of crumpled mess being hauled away after a crash-filled day turned into night at Kansas Speedway.

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"It's pretty wild and we're not the only ones with a hex that's happening out there," Busch said. "It seems like there's all these unforeseen circumstances that keep popping up, and a lot of it is out of the team's control -- it's just racing."

Stewart was the leader when the race was red-flagged after 148 laps, 14 after halfway and the second time rain interrupted the event. Just before that point, Stewart reportedly questioned crew chief Greg Zipadelli's strategy to stay on the track as the other lead lap cars began heading to pit road for fuel and tires, albeit under threatening skies (watch video).

Stewart was calm under the delay, but proved to be a prophet while daylight dwindled and jet dryers circulated the 1.5-mile speedway to dry it under the two-hour, 13-minute red flag.

"I am really proud of our guys, we have done a great job this weekend, Zippy [Zipadelli] and all the guys to give us a car that is drivable," Stewart said. "I hate to say this because of the fans here, but I hope it rains like this the rest of the day. We need these points right now."

But it wasn't to be. Stewart, though leading, restarted behind a number of lead lap cars, as well as the laps-down cars that typically restart in the inside line.

Before the race restarted just after 7 p.m. ET, NASCAR made the call to cut the race from 267 laps to 225, due to impending darkness.

And on Lap 156, right after the restart, Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet was in the middle of a scrum involving no less than seven cars coming off Turn 2 in which he punted fellow Chase contender Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 1 Chevrolet into the rear of 2003 Cup champion Matt Kenseth's No. 17 Ford.

The accident began when Michael Waltrip tried to drive his No. 55 Toyota between Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet and Ken Schrader's No. 21 Ford, which created a three-wide exit from Turn 2 that loosened up Schrader's car and spun it into the middle of the pack (watch video).

"Somebody just keeps taking it all away from us, you know -- it's the worst part about it," Truex said after exiting his ruined car for the second week in a row after getting in a wreck he didn't cause. This week it was repaired by his Dale Earnhardt Incorporated crew and he finished the race 38th, 35 laps down.

"We've had cars that could win, every damn week -- it's frustrating."

The cars of Truex and Kenseth, who came into the race seventh and 10th, respectively, in the Chase, were substantially damaged in the crash, while Stewart's car suffered front end damage, including a warped left front fender.

"I saw the 21 [Schrader] sideways -- I don't know how it happened, what caused it, or whatever," said Kenseth, who lost only four laps while making repairs and was running 35th at the finish. "But he spun out, I guess, and I got ran over from behind. I slowed down, I saw the wreck and I was trying to pick my way through it and just got hit from behind."

"Tony got in the back of us, but it wasn't his fault," Truex said. "What are you going to do -- a bunch of idiots wrecked in front of all of us, however many laps down they were. It was stupid -- just stupid."

When the race restarted on Lap 166, white smoke billowed from Stewart's car's left front for a number of laps, until the fender apparently wore the tire down and it stopped smoking.

"Tony had a tire rubbing for a long time, must have been going down or something," Carl Edwards said. "Bobby Hudson [Edwards' spotter] thought maybe Tony should have pulled in and fixed his car, but if our car started smoking, we would have been begging to stay out, too. So I see both sides of it. That's just how it goes, man."

On Lap 176, Stewart's left front tire blew entering Turn 3, a closely following Tony Raines managed to drive below him, but Chase contender Kurt Busch, who entered the race 11th in the championship, drilled Stewart square in the tail (watch video).

"I saw the smoke ... and you knew it was going to pop sooner or later," Busch said after meeting with team owner Roger Penske. "Tony was running the middle of the back straightaway and I was committed high.

"When [the tire] popped he came up right in front of me and I had nowhere to go. It just ruined our day after that because I couldn't get the front to plant and the rear end would slide loose.

"Of course it killed his day -- but he should have pulled in with it rubbing that hard."

The contact from Busch's No. 2 Dodge spun Stewart's car backwards into the wall, which heavily damaged its rear. When Stewart bounced off the barrier, he was collected by sixth place Chase driver Edwards' No. 99 Ford.

"I think Tony had a tire going down and he was doing everything he could to get out of the way, and Kurt got him there," Edwards said after leaving the infield care center. "Everybody's doing the best they could. It's too bad -- but, man, it's just hard to keep a smile on your face after something like this."

Stewart's car came to rest on the apron and the former two-time Cup champion became like a cartoon Tasmanian devil within his cockpit, snapping his ignition switch to the off position, removing his steering wheel and slamming it against the right window before removing his gloves, helmet and HANS device and hurling them around the inside of the car.

After he was treated and released at the track's infield care center, Stewart declined to comment on either incident. Zipadelli, who according to the ESPN on ABC broadcast crew advised Stewart before the restart that the fender damage wasn't severe enough to cut the tire, also left the garage without comment after the race.

During the cleanup after Stewart's wreck, which ended his day, NASCAR announced the race would be shortened by another 15 laps, to 210.

When the checkered flag fell on race winner Greg Biffle's No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, Stewart was 39th in the rundown, one of six Chasers who finished worse than 35th and the worst of the five Chasers involved in the race's ninth and 10th of 12 total cautions.

The bottom line impact after the third of 10 Chase races was that defending Nextel Cup champion Johnson, who was the top seed entering the Chase, finished third and unofficially re-assumed the lead, six points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who was fifth.

Home state favorite Clint Bowyer moved to third in the standings, only 14 points behind Johnson, with his runner-up finish.

Even though there's 70 percent of the Chase remaining and Johnson overcame a 165-point deficit at this point a year ago to win, Stewart -- who was in the top 10 151 of the 210 laps, second only to Biffle's 194 laps there -- fell to fourth in the Chase, 117 points out of first.

In the last two races Kenseth and Denny Hamlin have had disastrous outings and every other driver in the Chase besides Johnson, Gordon and Bowyer has had at least one bad race.

The evergreen Edwards was smiling after crashing heavily for the second consecutive day, but he admitted it wasn't easy.

"I guess there's more important things in life, but this hurts pretty bad," Edwards said. "I guess we've got seven races left, but we're here to win this championship.

"I know Matt [Kenseth] had trouble today. Tony's obviously torn up. A lot of guys [did]. But that's what makes it exciting. As long as everyone gets their fair share, it'll all work out."

Kenseth, after his second consecutive finish of 35th, agreed with his teammate.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy -- everybody's had bad weeks," Kenseth said. "Two weeks in a row a lot of cars had trouble, so I'm disappointed on one hand and encouraged on another.

"We've been running a lot better, the team's been doing a good job and the pit stops have been where they need to be -- we just keep having bad luck. Last week [when his car blew up] none of us could have done anything about it and this week really I don't think we could have done anything about it.

"We're all doing our jobs right now and we're just not really getting the results to show for it. Last year was the opposite -- we ran like crap and did all the rest of the stuff right and didn't wreck -- so it's been tough."