NASCAR: Late drama ends Kenseth's title hopes

As Sunday's final Chase Round of 8 race was sent to overtime, race leader Matt Kenseth was sent a request by teammate Kyle Busch, who was about to restart on the inside of Row 2 behind Alex Bowman. If Matt took the inside lane, it would help both Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.

"Forget that," Kenseth said. No longer teammates, each driver was out for himself in the fight to reach the Championship 4.

Three laps later, Kenseth's championship run was over, and Busch's runner-up finish helped him advance to race for the title at Homestead.

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Bowman spun his tires as the green flag dropped, and Kenseth's spotter Chris Osborne told him he was clear to move down to the inside lane. But Busch tried to make a move underneath and made contact with Bowman, sending him into Kenseth, who spun into the Turn 1 wall and wound up finishing 21st.

Kenseth told Osborne during the resulting caution that once he was heard he was clear, he was going to make the move to the inside.

"The 88 was laying way, way, way back for that restart more than a car width, so I got going early on purpose," Kenseth told NBC Sports after the race. "I got to the start-finish, looked like we were doing OK, and I looked back and it looked like [Bowman] maybe had a little run, maybe not, and then shortly thereafter Chris cleared me so then I just started with the glare, started looking in the corner, to approach the corner, and I turned down to the white line and he hollered inside the same time I got turned backwards and was headed toward the fence.

"So I really don’t know what happened, I was just going off the information I had to go try to make the best corner I could to try and make two more laps.

After the race, Busch said the end didn't go the way he had mapped it out.

"It's really unfortunate and devastating to have the race come down to the end like that," Busch told NBC Sports. "I got a little bit better restart than the 88 did and I felt like I had a run on him and got enough to the inside of him that if he chopped me he's was going to get hit and wreck, and that's what happened. But it carried on into [Matt], and essentially I guess I wrecked my teammate. I just – it's so frustrating and aggravating and I feel horrible about it.

"What I was really hoping for was I could get a good restart, force the 88 off the bottom and have him kinda block the 22 and I could have a position in between me and the 22, and both the 20 and myself could transfer on in to the final round. That's how I was projecting that restart going. But it certainly didn't end that way. So I feel really bad for the 20 car and all those guys.

"Ultimately, my contact sent another car into the 20, so I don't know what Matt's interpretation was, but we'll talk, and I don't know, maybe I'm owed one, I guess. I owe Carl [Edwards] one so we'll just keep going and race into next year."

Bowman, who came close to his first career Sprint Cup win as a fill-in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., brought the Nationwide Chevy home in sixth but echoed that the restart didn't go the way he'd hoped.

"I'm not sure if he thought he was clear," Bowman said. "Obviously it's really unfortunate; you never want to ruin a Chase guy's day like that, and I would have rather raced him for the win. It ruined our day too. Really unfortunate ... we had a run and [Busch] jacked me up and got me really loose on entry, but I was up against the inside wall when him and I made contact, so I don't know if his spotter cleared him or what there, but just unfortunate. I hate that for Matt, and obviously very unintentional.

"Gotta thank everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. Very thankful to be here and have such a strong day in my home state."

An apologetic Osborne took responsibility.