Car problems push Kyle Busch out of NASCAR top 12

SPEEDWAY, Ind.

Kyle Busch is working on his attitude. Now, he needs some help with his car and his luck after falling out of the top 12 in points for the first time since February.

Busch scraped the wall a couple of times and later blew a right front tire and crashed in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He finished 38th, dropping him four spots to 14th in the season standings.

He's 82 points out of 12th - the last spot for the Chase - with six races to go before the title field is set.

Earlier this weekend, Busch said he knew he needed to adjust his attitude, especially toward his team. That was tested Sunday when he struggled with his car and then blew the tire.

"This is obviously frustrating because I don't know if it was our car, the tire or what," Busch said. "The guys on pit road were going to save this day because you can't pass out there. I showed that. I can't even pass a lapped car. Something with our cars maybe."

It wasn't the tire. Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales for Goodyear, said the problem with Busch's right front tire was "self-inflicted."

"We stress to the guys you still need to look at your setups and work on it, and some guys pay attention and some guys don't," Stucker said.

Busch's problem wasn't the only one for Joe Gibbs Racing. Denny Hamlin broke a driveshaft and finished 34th. Rookie Joey Logano started at the rear because of an engine change before the race, but finished 12th.

Mcmurray's future hinges on sponsors

DeWalt's departure from Matt Kenseth's team after this season could impact Jamie McMurray's future with Roush Fenway Racing.

"The question with Jamie is whether or not we can close out with more sponsors before he has to accept an offer from somebody else," said Geoff Smith, president of Roush Racing.

The organization must cut back from five teams to four after this season to meet NASCAR guidelines.

Smith said that three of the four teams Roush plans to keep are those of Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and David Ragan. Then, it's down to Matt Kenseth and McMurray.

Smith admits there's much interest in companies to sponsor Kenseth.

"It makes it harder for the 26," Smith said of finding funding for McMurray's team with interest high in Kenseth's team. "Matt has got in the hierarchy of things in the garage, Matt is viewed as more pre-eminent."

Goodyear's pleased with tire performance

Unlike last year when tires blew out so often NASCAR had to call constant cautions to allow teams to change them, there were no such problems this year.

Goodyear had seven tire tests since last year's race in preparation for Sunday, running more than 14,000 miles total in those tests.

"Wear was excellent, everything looked good," said Stucker.

Stucker said that Goodyear plans to come back and test next year to check the tire compound as the track ages.

attendance totals: good news, bad news

The estimated attendance Sunday was 180,000. That's 60,000 less than last year's attendance. It's the smallest crowd to attend a stock car race at the track. Still, the crowd ties that of the Daytona 500 for the largest this season.

Biffle moves up in race for the chase

With Kyle Busch falling out of the top 12 in points, Greg Biffle moved in. Biffle climbed two spots to 11th after finishing fourth.

Matt Kenseth is 12th in the points. David Reutimann, who finished eighth, sits 13th and is 68 points behind Kenseth.

PIT PASSES

Jimmie Johnson's win was the 43rd of his career, putting him one behind Bill Elliott in the all-time list.... Kevin Harvick's sixth-place finish was his best since placing fourth at Atlanta in March.... After having 11 cautions in last year's race, there were three Sunday.... The nine lead changes tied the record low for this race.