By Mike Smith

Published Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 | 8:46 p.m.

Updated Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 | 9:59 a.m.

Kyle Busch didn’t make it into the Chase, but don’t expect him to set the cruise control for the remaining ten races. Kyle always has one goal. Pass everyone, even the lapped cars. Rest assured that’s what he’ll be doing until the last lap at Homestead. Busch is giving up his full-time Nationwide Series ride in 2010. That is a smart move. He’ll have one less distraction next season as he tries to make it into the Chase.

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Is it me or are Kyle’s post-race interviews becoming more professional?

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It was a miserable day for Matt Kenseth whose performance dropped him out of contention for the Chase and opened the door for Brian Vickers to secure the 12th position. Kenseth missed his pit stall on one occasion, battled back from being a lap down, was blocked in his pit by Michael Waltrip and had to contend with an ill-handling car for the entire race. This is the first year since the introduction of the Chase format that Kenseth has not made it into the final round. After Saturday’s race Matt said: “We’re always trying to get better, we just haven’t been able to do it. We need to figure out why because none of our cars really run the way they should.”

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A reader commented on Bloggity last week that Mark Martin will be the 2009 Cup champion. Well, Martin is off to a good start as he enters the Chase with the pole position. It would be a compelling story to have an older driver who is a tremendous role model take home the Cup. Can he hold off Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart? Judging from the positive attitude we have seen from Martin this season, this may be the best shot he’s ever had to win. Martin was 22 years old the first time he raced at Richmond.

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Robby Gordon had David Gilliland take over his Cup ride at Richmond so that he could concentrate on competing in the SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300 desert race at Primm, Nevada. Gordon, who competed in the Trophy-Truck division in Saturday’s event, was initially thought to have secured a second-place finish. But after SCORE officials reviewed the timing data from the “black boxes” that accompany each vehicle, time penalties were leveled against several racers for speeding on a paved section of the race course. As a result, driver Rob MacCachren, who was initially credited with a first-place finish, ended up in the second-place position and the win was awarded to Gordon.

Here are a few photos of Gordon after the end of the race.

Mike Smith

Mike Smith

Mike Smith

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