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Kenseth happy to be advancing to Eliminator Round

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Last week, Matt Kenseth chased Brad Keselowski down after racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway, putting him in a headlock between dark haulers. In the waning laps of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Kenseth was pushing Brad Keselowski across the start/finish line.

Kenseth brushed it off as a matter of circumstance.

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"That was his only way in, I think, was to win that thing and I gave Kevin (Harvick) a huge push," Kenseth said. "I thought Kevin was going to go right around him and Brad went for the block. I had to get a finish, so instead of going with Kevin I went to the bottom."

Kenseth’s push put Keselowski in Victory Lane, and, as a result, into the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

"Obviously, I told Brad, ‘Don’t look in the rearview mirror,’ because we didn’t like what happened last weekend — I told him to look out the windshield," team owner Roger Penske joked after the race. "… At the end, I think the big push came with the 22, but obviously Kenseth’s a world class driver, as they all are, and I think no one knew who was going to win, either Newman who was in position to make it happen, but fortunately he didn’t have a pusher like we had."

It was sound advice that Keselowski couldn’t follow.

"You can’t drive Talladega without looking in the mirror," the No. 2 driver said. "I think I more just kind of laughed in an irony way, appreciating the irony… To me, it was just funny how this racing world works out. I don’t know why it is that way, I don’t know why it seems like every week where there’s either a fight in the garage or a mishap or something like that happens, that those two cars and people end up together whether it was our cars were parked together in the garage area or on the race track for the win in the closing laps at Talladega."

The move was also beneficial for Kenseth, who came into Talladega ninth in points and in a position to be eliminated. His runner-up finish put him in fifth as the points reset for the Eliminator Round.

"Overall, it was a good day for us. We did what we needed to do," Kenseth said. "It’s nice to get a good finish and move on to Martinsville."

The Eliminator Round begins next weekend with Martinsville Speedway, continuing on to Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.

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Six-time champion falls short of advancement despite leading 84 laps

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Jimmie Johnson knew he was a long shot coming into Talladega Superspeedway, but after leading for a race-high 84 laps, it looked like the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion could be able to pull off something extraordinary to stay on the path to his seventh title. He found himself behind Brad Keselowski late in the race, and had to make a quick decision on how to propel himself to the front.

"I had such a strong car, I had a chance," Johnson said. "I was sitting in the second row outside, and I was just left with the decision to help the (No.) 2 and see if I could find a way by or try to make quick work of the 2 and go on, and I chose to try to make quick work of the 2, and as I got to his outside and pulled up alongside of him I looked up in the mirror and there was nobody back there helping. So I knew at that moment I was in trouble."

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That decision led to a 24th-place finish for Johnson, leaving him 11th in the standings and eliminating him from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. And with six titles to his name, Johnson knows what it takes to earn one — and he didn’t think his team had it.

"I showed up this weekend thinking I was playing with house money and kind of a very unique opportunity to advance," Johnson said. "In any Chase, after two bad races like we had in the last two weeks you wouldn’t have a shot at the championship."

After qualifying on the front row in a new format that left many drivers baffled, Johnson’s No. 48 looked to be the car to beat. The often-unpredictable Talladega, however, is among Johnson’s worst tracks. He only has worse average finishes at Richmond and Daytona.

He showed he planned to be aggressive early, knowing that he needed a win to move on. He found himself battling against Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who led a second-best 31 laps. Along with Johnson, Earnhardt and Kasey Kahne would all leave Alabama out of title contention.

"It’s just Talladega," team owner Rick Hendrick said. "We have been up front all day and I don’t know where we are going to end up. You just can’t avoid it down here when you are running that close together. It’s just what you have to get used to and accept it and move on. It’s not easy."

Johnson, on the other hand, found Sunday’s race easier than what his team has faced in the past two weeks. After being involved in a wreck in the opening race of the Contender Round at Kansas Speedway, the No. 48 team headed to Charlotte in 12th, 44 points back from points leader Joey Logano. Battling an ill-handling car that could only get Johnson to a 17th-place finish at Charlotte, Johnson fell 57 points out of the lead.

"Today I went down swinging, and I’ll take pride in that," Johnson said. "Am I disappointed in our Chase? Absolutely. In the last two weeks, people tuned in on the radio and there’s been plenty of articles written this week. Frustration was high. Frustration’s been high between Chad and I and the fact that we haven’t been able to produce like we wanted to. Today we went down swinging, we had a chance. We came up short, and we have to make the best of 2015."

The No. 48 team still has a chance to end the season in the top five in points, a finish Johnson is determined to get. His worst finish so far during his full-time Sprint Cup Series career is sixth.

"We still have a chance to finish fifth in points, which would mean the world to me, " he said. "The worst I’ve ever finished is sixth in points, so it’s not time to put our feet up, we need to finish strong and try to be in the top five."

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Team Penske driver holds off hard-charging Newman for sixth win of season

MORE: Full race results | Updated series standings
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TALLADEGA, Ala.– In a must-win situation at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski did exactly that, preserving his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship hopes with a victory in Sunday’s GEICO 500.

With the right side of his car damaged in the wreck that brought out the first caution flag of the afternoon, Keselowski persevered, taking the lead during the first attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish and winning the race in the second overtime—after a wreck that ended the title run of Keselowski’s former boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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"I can’t believe it," Keselowski said in Victory Lane. "Talladega is such a wild card, and to be able to win here you have to catch breaks and make your own breaks-a little of both.

"I can’t believe we won at Talladega. This race is the scariest of the three in the (Contender Round) bracket. To be able to win here is really a privilege. It really is."

Keselowski won his series-leading sixth race of the season, his third at Talladega and the 16th of his career. That alone propelled him into the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on a day that saw three of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers—Earnhardt, Kasey Kahne and six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson—fall by the wayside.

On the first lap of the first overtime, Keselowski’s Team Penske teammate gave the No. 2 Ford the push that enabled him to clear Ryan Newman and take the lead.

"We just persevered," Keselowski said. "We didn’t give up. I got a lot of help from my teammate Joey Logano and, wow, this is just special. Everything about today is special. I want to say ‘Thank you’ to everyone that supports our team."

A week after losing his cool on the race track and on pit road at Charlotte, Keselowski was the very model of professional poise at Talladega. Coincidentally, the driver with whom Keselowski had the most significant altercation at Charlotte—Matt Kenseth–was behind him on the final restart at Talladega, and at the finish line.

And, coincidentally, both Keselowski and Kenseth, the race runner-up, started the race at the rear of the field, Keselowski after breaking an alternator and Kenseth after changing an engine.

Kenseth, Newman (fifth Sunday), Denny Hamlin (18th), Jeff Gordon (26th) and Carl Edwards (21st) joined Contender Round winners Logano, Kevin Harvick and Keselowski in the Eliminator Round, which opens next Sunday at Martinsville, (Va.) Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) with points for all the Chase drivers reset to 4,000. Newman was later found to have failed post-race inspection due to his car being too low in the rear onboth sides. The No. 31 Chevrolet will be taken to NASCAR’s R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further review.

Kyle Busch, victim of an early wreck, joined Earnhardt, Johnson and Kahne as drivers knocked out of the Chase.

Johnson, who led a race-high 84 laps, was shuffled back after a restart on Lap 188, the first attempt at a green-white-checkered following a debris caution on Lap 184. In the second overtime, which took the race six circuits past its scheduled 188 laps, he fell back to 24th at the finish.

But Johnson’s finishing position was of little consequence, once victory was out of the question. Like Keselowski and Earnhardt, Johnson came to Talladega needing a win to move forward in the Chase.

After a wild shuffling of positions in the two overtimes, Clint Bowyer finished third, followed by Landon Cassill (first career top five in 147 starts) and Newman. Travis Kvapil, Kurt Busch, Marcos Ambrose and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10.

At Talladega, there are always victims, and Kyle Busch was the first. On the backstretch on Lap 103, Aric Almirola tapped the back bumper of J.J. Yeley’s Toyota and turned the car sideways into the outside wall, igniting a 10-car chain-reaction wreck.

Riding 28th near the rear of the field, Busch checked up and appeared poised to avoid the melee, only to be launched into the inside wall by Austin Dillon‘s Chevrolet.

With the frame of the No. 18 Toyota bent like a pretzel and suspension parts askew on both ends, Busch brought the car to the garage and dropped to 43rd on the scoring monitor as his team frantically tried to restore the Camry to running condition.

"We were just all starting to shuffle around there and getting ready to pit, and I think it was the 83 (Yeley) in front of me, and I think he might have been trying to check up to get to the bottom," Almirola said of the incident that started the wreck.

"I just barely started to push him and it hooked his car—and we all wrecked."

Earnhardt’s run at a first championship came to a sudden end on the backstretch on Lap 188, when contact from Greg Biffle‘s Ford spun the No. 88 Chevy, which had spent 31 laps in the lead, but restarted 16th on the first green-white-checkered attempt.

With the car damaged in the wreck, Earnhardt finished 31st, a far cry from the victory he needed to advance to the next round of the Chase.

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Moments that changed the course of the 32nd race of the 2014 season

KESELOWSKI WINS TO ADVANCE IN THE CHASE

In a must-win situation, Brad Keselowski advanced to the Eliminator Round by winning the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish on Sunday.

Keselowski was sent to the back of the field earlier in the race after being penalized for having too many men over the wall on a pit stop following a wreck. He led just 12 of the 194 laps, but soared to the front late.

Matt Kenseth finished second behind Keselowski, and also advanced to the Eliminator Round in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The top five also included Clint Bowyer, Landon Cassill and Ryan Newman.

The three race winners in the Contender Round — Keselowski, Joey Logano (Kansas) and Kevin Harvick (Charlotte) — automatically advance to the Eliminator Round.

Newman, Denny Hamlin, Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon advanced based on points.

Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch have been eliminated from championship contention.

UPS

EARNHARDT JR.’S CHASE ENDS WITH BACKSTRETCH WRECK

With the right side of his car damaged in the wreck that brought out the first caution flag of the afternoon, Keselowski persevered, taking the lead during the first attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish and winning the race in the second overtime — after a wreck that ended the title run of Keselowski’s former boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt’s run at a first championship came to a sudden end on the backstretch on Lap 188, when contact from Greg Biffle’s Ford spun the No. 88 Chevy, which had spent 31 laps in the lead, but restarted 16th on the first green-white-checkered attempt.

"Got with the No. 16 (Biffle) a little bit," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don’t know if I came down on him or what. I thought I was holding my line, but we were all kind of tight back there."

With the car damaged in the wreck, Earnhardt finished 31st, a far cry from the victory he needed to advance to the next round of the Chase.

MID-RACE WRECK KNOCKS KYLE BUSCH OUT OF CHASE

Kyle Busch was involved in a 10-car incident on Lap 102 during Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, an incident that would end up severely hampering his chances of advancing in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Busch finished the race in 40th place and ninth place in the standings. Because of Brad Keselowski‘s win, Busch was the second driver to not advance to the Eliminator Round of the Chase.

Busch was running in the middle of the pack when Austin Dillon clobbered him from behind, knocking him out of control and into the wall. Busch incurred major damage and was forced immediately to the garage. He did return to the race but couldn’t gain enough ground to hang on to a transfer spot.

"(Car’s) really hurt, rear-end damage … whole front fascia gone, had to replace the whole front end," team owner Joe Gibbs said. "Our guys are going after it as hard as they can."

The wreck started when Aric Almirola and JJ Yeley got together.

"We were just all starting to shuffle around there and getting ready to pit," Almirola said. "I think it was the 83 (of Yeley) in front of me, and I think he might have been trying to check up to get to the bottom. I just barely started to push him and it hooked his car and we all wrecked."

Tony Stewart, AJ Allmendinger, Terry Labonte and Alex Bowman were among the others collected in the crash.

Busch entered the race second in the Chase Standings in points (3,082) but his rough finish at Talladega left him on the wrong side of the cut line.

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No. 31 Chevrolet fails post-race inspection at Talladega

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Ryan Newman‘s car was found to be too low in the rear on both sides during Sunday’s post-race inspection and will head back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further review.

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Newman advanced to the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup thanks to a fifth-place finish in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Newman, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet in his first season with Richard Childress Racing, was credited with leading 10 laps as he scored his fourth straight top-10 finish in the Chase.

Any potential penalty would likely not be announced until Tuesday. With the points reset for the next round, Newman is ranked third in the standings. Every driver in the Eliminator Round has 4,000 points.

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Logano already in Eliminator Round; Kes wins his way in

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Brad Keselowski‘s chances of advancing to the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup appeared to take a hit when he was involved in a Lap 59 wreck that brought out the first caution of the day during Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

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But the 2012 Sprint Cup champion serged late on the second of two green-white-checkered finish attempts to win the GEICO 500 and race his way into the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Keselowski was running with the lead pack when Jamie McMurray suffered a cut left-rear tire that ignited a chain reaction.

McMurray got into Keselowski and Michael McDowell, and sent Keselowski’s Team Penske teammate Joey Logano spinning into the infield.

Keselowski suffered minor damage and took four tires in the ensuing pit stop, and his crew took a long look at his damage.

Logano fell a lap back at the time but already advanced to the Eliminator Round after winning at Kansas. He finished the race in 11th place.

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See who made the eight-driver cut for the Eliminator Round

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MORE: Keselowski advances with win at Talladega

The GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway marked the sixth race of the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and the final race of the Eliminator Round of the Chase. With four drivers eliminated, the Chase field now stands at eight drivers entering the Eliminator Round.

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The four drivers eliminated from the Chase after Talladega are: Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne.

The eight drivers advancing to the Eliminator Round are: Joey Logano (Won at Kansas), Kevin Harvick (Won at Charlotte), Brad Keselowski (won at Talladega), Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth.

For the eight drivers advancing to the Eliminator Round, their point totals will be reset to 4,000. For the four drivers that are eliminated from the Chase field, they will see their point totals reset to the Chase-start base of 2,000 plus any bonus points for regular-season wins and the additional points they have earned in the Chase.

The Eliminator Round consists of three races: Martinsville Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway. A Chase driver who wins one of those three races will automatically clinch a spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16. The rest of the four-driver field to compete for the title in the season finale will be determined by the points scored in the three Eliminator Round races.

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Get all the on-track times for the weekend’s NASCAR action

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All times ET

COMPLETE TV LISTINGS / BUY TICKETS FOR MARTINSVILLE / WEEKEND TRACK EVENTS

This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series head to Martinsville Speedway.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24:

ON TRACK
— noon-1:20 p.m. ET: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— 1:40-2:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— 3-4:25 p.m. ET: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— 4:40 p.m. ET: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 10:15 a.m. ET: Cole Custer
— 10:30 a.m. ET: Timothy Peters
— 11 a.m. ET: Jimmie Johnson
— 11:15 a.m. ET: Matt Kenseth
— 1:30 p.m. ET: Carl Edwards
— 1:50 p.m. ET: Denny Hamlin
— 2:15 p.m. ET: Danica Patrick
— 2:45 p.m. ET: Jeff Gordon
— 5:30 p.m. ET: Post NSCS qualifying

GARAGECAM PRESENTED BY MOBIL 1 (Watch live)
— NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: 11:30 a.m. ET
— NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: 2:30 p.m. ET

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25:

ON TRACK
— 9-9:50 a.m. ET: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— 10:15 a.m. ET: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— noon-12:50 p.m. ET: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— 1:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 (200 laps, 105.2 miles), FOX Sports 1 (Results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 11:15 a.m. ET: David Ragan and Darrell Wallace Jr.
— 3:15 p.m. ET: Post NCWTS race

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26:

12:50 p.m. ET: Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award Finalist Presentation
12:51 p.m. ET: VIP intros: Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell; Henry County Board of Supervisors H.G. Vaughn; Martinsville Mayor Kim Adkins; U.S. Representative Robert Hurt; NASCAR Hall of Fame member Wendell Scott’s family; Goody’s Director of Marketing Joe Juliano; Goody’s CEO of Prestige Brands Matt Mannelly; Dale Earnhardt Jr; Honorary Starter UFC Bantamweight Fighter Miesha Tate; Grand Marshal Richard Petty; Miss Sprint Cup Julianna White
1 p.m. ET: NSCS Drivers Introductions with NASCAR Special Awards
Coors Light Pole Award To: Jamie McMurray
Virginia Lottery Pole Award; Presented by Frankie Howard To: TBD
NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Leader Flag Presentation To: #22 Joey Logano
3M Lap Leader Award To: #48 Jimmie Johnson
Duralast Brakes “Brake in the Race” Award To: #4 Kasey Kahne
Freescale Wide Open Award To: #2 Brad Keselowski
American Ethanol “Green Flag Restart” Award To: #3 Austin Dillon
Mahle/Clevite Engine Builder of the Race Award To: #2 Brad Keselowski
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race Award To: #20 Matt Kenseth
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race Award To: #31 Ryan Newman
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap Award To: #47 Marcos Ambrose
Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award To: #3 Austin Dillon
1:29:45 p.m. ET: Pledge of Allegiance by Teacher Harding’s 3rd Grade Class from Hurt Elementary in Pittsylvania County, Virginia
1:30 p.m. ET: Presentation of Colors by Local Law Enforcement and Public Safety Honor Guard
1:31 p.m. ET: Invocation by Mike Hatfield, track chaplain
1:32 p.m. ET: National Anthem by UNC Marching Band – The Marching Tarheels
1:33 p.m. ET: Flyover by The Warbirds Flyover Team from Jacksonville, Florida
1:38 p.m. ET: "Drivers, Start Your Engines" by Richard Petty
1:43 p.m. ET: Start of the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 (500 Laps, 263 Miles)

ON TRACK
— 1:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 (500 laps, 263 miles), ESPN (Follow live)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 5:20 p.m. ET: Post NSCS race

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Dale Jr. led 31 laps, but ultimately came up short at Talladega

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s title hopes came to a disappointing end Sunday on the backstretch of Talladega Superspeedway.

Caught up in a multi-car accident
during the first of two green-white-checkered attempts, the Hendrick
Motorsports driver wound up 31st in the GEICO 500. A long shot became no
shot. The opportunity to advance to the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup went out the window when contact from Greg Biffle sent Earnhardt’s car spinning into the wall.

Earnhardt joined teammates Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne, along with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch, as those eliminated from Chase title contention.

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"I don’t know if I came down on him or what," Earnhardt said of the contact with the Roush Fenway Racing driver. "I thought I was holding my line, but we were all kind of tight back there.”

Earnhardt, Johnson and Brad Keselowski, bringing up the rear of the Chase points heading into the race, needed a win to advance to the next round. Keselowski accomplished the feat, on one of the most treacherous tracks on the schedule.

Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet was out front twice for 31 laps, and when he wasn’t leading he was often dicing up front among those who were. But getting shuffled back in the field during the final stage of the race left him in a precarious position.

"We worked real hard all day long trying to run up front," Earnhardt said. "I knew we needed to be up front all day long. We got shuffled to the back. I made a move trying to get up front and it didn’t work out. So, we lost a lot of track position and never got it back.

"You need to be up front. You need to be in the top four the last few restarts. Those are the guys that have a shot at it. You know you’re not going to pass 10 or 12 cars there in six or seven laps. We tried. It just didn’t work out."

In a race that saw 38 lead changes among 19 drivers, Earnhardt broke out on top on Lap 75 and stayed on the point for 29 laps. He lost the lead during a round of pit stops, then led briefly for two more laps shortly afterward.

He was able to stay around the top 10 for much of the second half of the race, until only some 30 or so laps remained.

Even then, given the unpredictable nature of racing on the 2.66-mile track, hope remained.

"We worked hard to try to get back into the top five or so, and it just didn’t work out," he said. "The car did get loose on one run. We made a good adjustment and it was driving good at the end."

Crew chief Steve Letarte said it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"We just never could get a foothold; never could mount a charge back to the front," he said. "That’s just how it is. Sometimes you get cycled out at the wrong time and that was definitely not the right time to get cycled out."

While the car certainly seemed capable of winning, Letarte said the nature of racing here tempers expectations.

"I’m not going to say it doesn’t matter," he said. "I don’t want to discount the hard work our company puts in the engines and these (crew) guys put into the car, but … a great car gives you very little guarantee."

A winner of three races prior to the start of the Chase, Earnhardt came to Talladega on the heels of disappointing finishes at Kansas and Charlotte that put his team in a must-win scenario.

That he was unable to advance was disappointing, but not crushing.

"There have probably been worse things," he said. "I’m not retiring or anything, so we’ll try next year.

"We’ve had a good season and have a lot to be looking forward to. We’re definitely not going to get too torn up about (it); we didn’t run well."

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Incident sent ‘Rowdy’ to garage early and he couldn’t recover

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kyle Busch was enjoying one of his best efforts ever in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, with five consecutive top-10 finishes and a second-place position in the points standings.

Then came Talladega, and the wreck, and the mad scramble to repair a car that looked beyond repair.

Busch was able to return to Sunday’s GEICO 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, but the 40th place finish proved too damaging to overcome.

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Seemingly headed for the Eliminator Round of the Chase, Busch instead now joins six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne as those who are no longer in contention for the series title.

"We were riding around back, Kyle was just playing it conservative … they wrecked in front of us, we got slowed up and the guys in back didn’t," said crew chief Dave Rogers.

"It’s part of speedway racing; you know someone is going to wreck out, you just hope it’s not you."

Busch, whose car was nicked only slightly in a six-car incident on Lap 60 when Jamie McMurray appeared to have a tire go down, wasn’t nearly as fortunate on Lap 103.

Contact between Aric Almirola and J.J. Yeley on the backstretch started a chain reaction incident that swept up Tony Stewart, Casey Mears, AJ Allmendinger, Busch, Terry Labonte, Alex Bowman, Clint Bowyer, Austin Dillon and Brian Vickers.

Busch and Almirola were the only two to spend an extensive amount of time in the garage, but both eventually made it back on the track.

While Busch did gain three spots after his car was repaired — he finished ahead of Michael McDowell, Yeley and Bowman — he was four points behind Kahne and seven behind Jeff Gordon, who was eighth in the standings before the Eliminator Round reset.

"It was a tough day for the crew but we’ll gather ourselves back up tomorrow and we’ll race them hard at Martinsville," Rogers said. "We’ll try to advance in points and get to fifth, do the best we can the rest of the year."

Busch, 29, was making his seventh Chase appearance. He finished a career-best fourth in the championship battle a year ago.

He qualified for the Chase thanks to a win earlier this season at Auto Club Speedway, and advanced out of the first three-race round with finishes of seventh, eighth and 10th at Chicagoland, Loudon and Dover, respectively.

A third-place finish at Kansas and fifth-place run at Charlotte in the Contender round left him second in points heading into Sunday’s race.

Busch did not comment publicly after the race.

"I can’t praise him enough," Rogers said of his driver. "He’s really stepped up to be a great leader of this race team in the Chase.

"We’ve had a couple of things go against us — getting the nose knocked off at Loudon (and) today, and Kyle’s done a really good job of biting his lip and just backing the race team to let us do our job.

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

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