NASCAR Chase Rundown - 10th Place: Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch had, without a doubt, one of the best seasons in the history of NASCAR. His combined stats for the top three series in NASCAR racing for 2008 are mindblowing. "Rowdy" had 21 wins , 45 top 5's, 57 top 10's and led a staggering 4,362 laps. He also gave Toyota it's first win in Sprint Cup history. What's even more unbelievable is that the junior Busch brother barely finished the season in the top 10 in points for the Sprint Cup Championship.

Kyle Busch entered the playoffs 30 points ahead of Carl Edwards and left New Hampshire 74 points behind. A broken suspension piece early in the race put Busch 12 laps down and was a harbinger of things to come. The seemingly unbeatable Busch from earlier in the year was no where to be found; his car suffered catastrophic engine failure after 172 laps at Dover and finished 43rd. Kansas was no picnic either. The #18 M&M's boys couldn't get that JGR Toyota hooked-up and Busch finished a disappointing 28th. The one no one could catch was now mired in last place in the Chase after 3 races and was in a fight just to make the stage at the awards banquet.

Busch gutted out 4 top 10's later in the Chase, but he never truly contended for a win in any of the races. His amazing season ended with a sputtering 19th place finish at Homestead; having to stop for fuel with under 5 laps to go. He did manage to finish 2 points ahead of Matt Kenseth in the final Championship standings.

Did the rigors of racing in 84 NASCAR events between Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Trucks take its toll? Did Busch's team peak too early or did other teams just get better? Was Kyle a victim of bad luck or just bad timing? I'm not rally sure. What I do know is that this kid is only 23 years old and he is a wheelman! Kyle Busch has many years of race car domination in front of him. He is "checkers or wreckers" every race he is in. You build him something with 4 wheels and he'll get you the best finish that machine was capable of (and often two spots more). A future champion? You bet. The question is not if, but how many.