RELATED: Full results from Martinsville
The numbers are loud and mostly clear: Kyle Busch had a good day at Martinsville. He finished second. He earned 52 points. He led a whopping 274 laps.
One thing he did not get, however, was a playoff point. Playoff points are valuable commodities, attainable in only a few ways during regular-season races and only able to be cashed out during the postseason.
If a driver wins the race, he or she receives five playoff points. Running first at the conclusion of either Stage 1 or Stage 2 also results in one playoff point for each stage. Over a full season, playoff points will add up.
MORE: FAQ on 2017 race format | O'Donnell on stage racing
Busch was in position to win Stage 2 on Sunday, before tangling on-track with a hard-battling Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The Roush Fenway Racing driver was among a pack of six cars Busch was attempting to lap.
There was contact both ways, culminating in an aggressive move from Stenhouse on the final lap of Stage 2 in which he bumped Busch up the track to re-take his position and become unlapped … and allowing Chase Elliott to sneak by Busch at the start/finish line for the stage victory.
RELATED: Who's earned the most stage points?
It was stage racing at its finest and exactly what was intended with the enhanced race format for 2017.
"That was a (playoff) point that we were looking to score and try to achieve, and we lost it," Busch said. "It's just like the rest of this year, too. We've just thrown away points, week in and week out."
Remember, playoff points carry over into the postseason, and they continue to carry over into each subsequent elimination round.
Brad Keselowski, for example, leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with 10 playoff points. Martin Truex Jr. is second with nine.
RELATED: Full standings with playoff points
Kyle Busch, sixth in the standings, has one playoff point to carry over into the postseason as of now, provided he qualify for the 16-driver playoff. He was not pleased about missing out on getting one more at Martinsville.
"I mean, they were doing everything they could in order to stay on the lead lap, but you know, when you've got the leader to your outside and you just keep banging him off the corner, that's pretty disrespectful," Busch said. "It's going to come back and bite you one of these days. You've just got to always remember race car drivers are like elephants; they remember everything."