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.

Had Busch been able to pass Martin for fourth and Vickers had failed to pass Hornish, the roles would have been reversed once again. By virtue of his four race victories on the season to Vickers' one, Busch would have been awarded the Chase spot and Vickers would have been the odd man out on a tiebreaker.

Instead, Busch ended up having to settle for fifth and Vickers eventually worked his way around Hornish, settling the matter.

“

Well, we did all we could do. We gave it a valiant effort. I'll be looking to win some races the rest of the season and hopefully go out with a bang.

”

-- KYLE BUSCH

"Well, we did all we could do," Busch said afterward. "We gave it a valiant effort."

Gibbs insisted Saturday's failure for Busch could be used to Busch's advantage the final 10 races of the season. As disappointing as it is not to make the Chase this season, Gibbs said he hopes Busch can win some races in the final 10 and build positive momentum so it doesn't happen again next year.

He even pointed to the 2006 season of former JGR driver Tony Stewart, who finished one spot out of the Chase (11th when only the top 10 qualified for it) but went on to win three of the final eight races that season. The next year, Stewart made the Chase and ended up fifth in the final points standings.

"We've been here before. We were here with Tony several years ago, and it's hard," Gibbs said. "But we made that season a springboard to the next year. He won some races down the stretch -- and we used that to build some momentum for the next year. Then he came out of the box really hot the next season.

"Obviously last year we had the great year with Kyle. If he hadn't had such a great year last year, not making the Chase this year probably wouldn't be such a great disappointment. We expected great things. And obviously four wins is great. But the consistency wasn't there. It's no one race. It's a bunch of things. We're just going to put our heads down and try to come up with ways we can get better."

Thinking back to 2006, Stewart said he could relate to Busch's woes.

"We've been in that same situation -- and you leave here feeling sick to your stomach," Stewart said. "You look back, and you look back at every night and say to yourself, 'What if I had done this different? What if I did that different?' He's going to second-guess things that he's done this year.

"You know, I hate the saying it is what it is, but that's kind of what this situation is. It's 26 weeks to get yourself in a position. One day didn't make or break anybody. [Saturday] didn't make or break anybody. It was all 26 weeks combined. You look back and second-guess everything you've done and try to figure out what you could have done differently."

That's what Gibbs and Addington spent several minutes talking about after Saturday's race. Addington also spoke with JGR's Greg Zipadelli, who was Stewart's former crew chief.

"It's just one of those things where we talked about what we can do to get better, more consistent. Steve had a chance to talk to Zippy about some of the things he went through [with Stewart earlier]," Gibbs said. "But it's hard. It's tough. You invest all of your life, all that time into it -- and you come that close. Again, it's not one thing. But it's hard to take.

"Talking to Kyle afterward, he had a great spirit about it. Again, it's frustrating. But hopefully we can turn him loose these last 10."

At the same time he was struggling with Busch's fate, Gibbs said he didn't want to overlook the fact that Hamlin's victory on the driver's hometown track deserved to be celebrated.

"Hey, when you've got kids, sometimes one's going through a tough time and the other is doing well. You kind of sit on both sides of the fence," Gibbs said.

"I hope it's a great Chase for Denny. And I hope we can turn Kyle loose these last 10 and have him go for some race wins."

Busch is all for it, adding that he'll "be looking to win some races in the rest of the season and hopefully go out with a bang."

But Stewart, the man who has been in his position previously, doubted that even winning races in the final 10 will completely erase the sting of not making the Chase for Busch.

"I don't know, man. It's never made me feel better going into the next season, falling one spot short," Stewart said. "What makes you feel good is having a good Chase run. That's what really leads you into the next year. Finishing 13th has never made anybody feel good going into next season, I don't think."

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