RICHMOND, Va. -- For a long time after the conclusion of Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400, J.D. Gibbs and Steve Addington stood talking, arms slumped over stacks of Goodyear racing tires in the Sprint Cup garage at Richmond International Raceway.

Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, didn't wear the look normally associated with having one of his team's cars win the race and another finish in the top five.

“

We've been in that same situation -- and you leave here feeling sick to your stomach.

”

-- TONY STEWART

It was, Gibbs admitted a short while later, a very difficult night. While JGR's Denny Hamlin won the race in his No. 11 Toyota, finishing fifth for teammate Kyle Busch in his No. 18 Toyota wasn't quite good enough to get Busch into the Chase.

Busch thus ended the 26-race regular season 13th in the points standings, despite tying Mark Martin with a series-high four wins. He finished eight points behind Brian Vickers, who claimed the 12th and final spot in the Chase.

"It was hard, man. A, you've been here with Denny, who has come so close before and you want him to get the win; and, B, you've got Kyle sitting there battling to get in. Hats off to Vickers and that whole team. They did what they had to do," Gibbs said.

"It's just discouraging. You come that close and then you're not in the Chase. But we expect to go to these next 10 races and have Kyle do well. We're not going to be points racing, so we'll just go out there and try to win some stuff."

Busch and Vickers constantly swapped positions in the points standings throughout Saturday's 400-lap race. One minute one was in the Chase and the other out. Then the next lap roles were reversed as both ran most of the night around the top 10 or even well inside it.

Following a caution with 15 laps remaining, Busch gained three spots on pit road and came out ahead of Vickers, who had been leading him in the race. But as Busch pushed to catch Mark Martin for fourth -- and the four points it would have gained him in the season standings -- Vickers was doing the same to try to get by Sam Hornish Jr. for seventh and the same points booty. (Continued)