NASCAR Cup Series

Kurt Busch misses Chase cutoff after losing battle with ill-handling car

Published Sep. 28, 2014 5:21 p.m. ET

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Stewart-Haas Racing's Kurt Busch entered the Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway with hopes of finishing inside the top 12 in the standings and advancing to the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Busch ran around the 11th spot for much of the first half of Sunday's 400 miles, which was pretty much what he needed to do. However, as the closing laps of the race played out, the handle on Busch's No. 41 Chevrolet went away and so did his chances of surviving elimination from the Chase.

Finishing the day in the 18th, it was not enough for Busch to transfer into the Contender 12 round of the Chase.

As Busch struggled to with an ill-handling car, he continued to fall back as Kasey Kahne did the exact opposite and moved forward. Busch's 18th-place finish dropped him to 14th in the Chase standings as AJ Allmendinger moved into 13th with a 23rd-place finish.

After the race, Busch told his crew, "It's all my fault. Sorry guys. All my fault. Put that on the driver."

Visibly frustrated at the end of the race, crew chief Daniel Knost stood staring at the No. 41 as the crew went to work loading the car on the hauler.

"It was just a tough day," Knost told FOXSports.com. "Kurt drove really hard and was in position for a while. We just got really tight. We'll have to go through the run and find out why."

Now out of the championship picture, Knost said the "No. 1 goal" for the team in the remaining races is to score a win.

"We'll approach every race like we always do, to try and win and get the best finish we can get," Knost said.

Entering the day 15th in the Chase standings, Busch was doing what he needed to do for much of the race, running just outside the top 10 and climbing ever-closer to the 12th-place cutoff mark.

Then, when a loose wheel for Kasey Kahne brought the No. 5 Chevrolet to pit road under green on Lap 160 and dropped him down in the running order and the standings, seemingly providing the cushion Busch needed.

At one point, Kahne fell four laps down to the race leader as Busch remained inside the top 20 on the lead lap.

However, when Kahne caught a break thanks to Kevin Harvick's flat left front and subsequent caution on Lap 255, the gap between 12th and 13th in the Chase standings tightened considerably.

The caution and pit stops that followed allowed Kahne to get back to just one lap down as the closing stages of the race began. While Kahne began to come to life, Busch lost the handle on his No. 41 Chevrolet.

With 80 laps to go, Busch continued to struggle and fell through the field with a tight racecar. As he fell to 17th, Busch brought the car to pit road with 74 laps to go.

After green flag stops cycled through with just 65 laps to go, Kahne held the 12th spot, while Busch was one point back in 13th, Allmendinger was three points back, Biffle was five points back and Almirola was 15th, a distant 16 points behind Kahne.

With just 18 laps on his tires, Busch complained the car was still too tight and told the crew, "Wow, I don't know how we lost the handle."

Moving by teammate Tony Stewart for the 13th spot with 49 laps to go, Busch moved into a tie with Kahne for the 12th spot, but owned the tiebreaker.

The battle for the final transfer spot was far from over, though. With 37 laps to go, Harvick moved by Busch for the 13th spot, which gave Kahne the 12th spot in the Chase standings.

As Busch struggled with his ill-handling car, he continued to fall back as Kahne did the exact opposite and moved forward. Continuing to drop through the field, Busch eventually fell to 18th and out of the Chase by the finish.

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