Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger and Greg Biffle were all eliminated from Chase contention following Sunday’s Dover race. The four drivers who ranked lowest in points after Dover’s elimination race will head back into the field of non-Chase drivers.
Here’s what each driver had to say about his elimination:
Aric Almirola:
Out of all the Chase drivers, Aric Almirola was the biggest underdog.
The No. 43 team at Richard Petty Motorsports locked itself into the Chase after a rain-shortened Daytona victory in July, and Almirola picked up momentum heading into the playoffs by finishing ninth in Atlanta and 10th in Richmond. But an engine issue in the first race of the Chase hurt Almirola’s chances of advancing.
"It just didn't work out for us. I hate it," Almirola said. "We picked a bad day to run the way we did and we can't blame anybody but ourselves. My car didn't have any grip. Right now, it's pretty disappointing."
Kurt Busch:
Given his equipment, Busch was expected to advance to the next round of the Chase. He started off on the right path, finishing 8th at Chicagoland Speedway, but a 36th-place finish in New Hampshire put Busch in a difficult spot heading to Dover.
"The car was just tight the last 100 miles," Busch said. "I felt like we were in a good position to advance, but you can't expect to advance by running 18th. You have to be more competitive. You've got to have better lap times every time you go and hit the track."
Busch was not happy with his car for most of the race, but he took the blame for failing to advance.
"It's all my fault. We don't get to advance to the championship but we can still run for pride and run for wins."
AJ Allmendinger:
With Kasey Kahne beating him by two points, Allmendinger just narrowly missed advancing to Round 2, and out of the four eliminated drivers, he appeared most upset about not making it through.
"It was an awful day," Allmendinger said after the race. "I’m not going to take a moral victory out of it to miss by two points.
"It’s really disappointing, but we didn’t deserve to be here with the run that we had. We kept throwing the kitchen sink (at the car) during every stop. We just missed it all weekend."
Greg Biffle:
Biffle’s performance in the regular season was mediocre at best. He only managed three top-five finishes and 10 top-10s, but he squeaked by on points to make it into the Chase.
Stacked against a competitive field in the playoffs, Biffle could only muster a 23rd place finish at Chicagoland, 16th at New Hampshire and 21st at Dover on Sunday.
"I’ve won races my whole career, but to be struggling like this all season is disappointing at best," Biffle said of his year at Roush Fenway Racing.
"Part of you just wants to put the car in the garage, while the other half of you is racing as hard as you can to get in the Chase. This is the way it’s gone all season. We’re just searching for speed. We've worked hard, trying to fix our problems, but it just hasn't come together yet."
