By Ryan - Posted on September 16, 2009
On what should have been a night of celebration, NASCAR News agencies report that Joe Gibbs, president of Joe Gibb’s Racing, was naturally a bit conflicted. While JGR’s Denny Hamlin and his team posted and celebrated their first ever victory at Hamlin’s home track in Richmond, Virginia at Saturday’s NASCAR Chevy Rock and Roll 400, Gibbs also coped with and shared in the disappointment of Kyle Busch. Hamlin’s teammate, Kyle Busch, crossed in fifth, one place shy of qualifying for the 12th and final spot in the Chase. “It was a difficult night,” admitted Gibbs, “but hey, when you 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.”
The battle for the coveted spot in the chase was an epic duel between two Toyotas. Busch and Brian Vickers regularly traded spots all evening long in a matchup that would eventually see Vickers prevail.
Coming out of a caution, and with 15 laps remaining, Busch needed to pass Mark Martin, who was sitting in fourth place, and hope that Sam Hornish could hold off Vickers for the seventh spot. That scenario would have found Busch and Vickers tied in points for the 12th spot, and sent Busch to the Chase as the final qualifier via a tiebreaker—Busch’s 4 wins on the circuit this season. But unfortunately for Busch, it was not to be. Vickers eventually overtook Hornish for seventh place, catapulting him 8 points ahead of Busch in the points standings, as he locked up the final spot, while Busch fell short of Martin, finishing a disappointing fifth. Martin’s fourth place finish also secured him the points lead going into the Chase.
Both Kyle Busch and team owner, Joe Gibbs, while naturally disappointed, tried to remain optimistic about the remainder of the season. Said Busch, “Well, we did all we could do. We gave it a valiant effort. I’ll be hoping to win some races the rest of the season, and hopefully go out with a bang.” Gibbs, echoing that sentiment, added “Talking with Kyle afterward, he had a great spirit about it. Again it’s frustrating, but hopefully we can turn him loose these last 10 races.”
Missing the cut for the Chase was a huge letdown for both Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing, especially after the successful campaign he put together last year. While Busch did manage to win four races in 2009, tying him with Mark Martin for the most in NASCAR this season, the inconsistency in the other 22 races ultimately proved too large an obstacle for Busch to overcome.
Denny Hamlin will join Vickers, Martin and nine other top NASCAR drivers when the Chase gets underway next weekend.
