3 Chase contenders knocked out by misfortune

HAMPTON, Ga. - When two cars wrecked in front of Rusty Wallace, any hopes of closing his brilliant career as a NASCAR champion were wiped out.

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Wallace wasn't the only one who got chased from the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship Sunday.

Goodbye, Kurt Busch.

Adios, Jeremy Mayfield.

All three of the title contenders ran into misfortune at Atlanta Motor Speedway, realistically ending their chances of winning the cup with only three races remaining.

"That pretty well knocked us out," said the retiring Wallace, who was involved in a wreck just seven laps into the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500.

The 1989 series champion was forced to the garage for repairs and wound up in 37th place - 67 laps behind winner Carl Edwards.

Busch, the defending Nextel Cup champion, slammed into the wall in turn four during a desperate bid to get back to the pits after a tire went flat.

He retreated to his hauler while the crew banged out the dents and replaced the front end of his No. 97 Ford. Not that it mattered - Busch finished 55 laps off the pace in 36th.

Finally, there was Mayfield, who was doomed by a mechanical problem. He settled for a championship-crushing 38th-place showing, 99 laps behind the winner.

When the smoke cleared, all three were nothing more than also-rans in the 10-man Chase.

Wallace is eighth in the standings, 257 points behind leader Tony Stewart. Busch is three more points back in ninth, while Mayfield brings up the rear of the Chase with a staggering 310-point deficit.

"It's a sad thing for the team and the fans," Wallace said. "We've had some great runs. It's gratifying to go out at the top of the game. That's what I wanted to do. I'm just upset right now."

Wallace got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Coming through turn two, Mike Skinner apparently cut a tire and slammed into the outside wall. He clipped Kevin Lepage, who spun in front of Wallace.

The No. 2 Dodge slammed into Lepage, sustaining heavy damage to the front grill.

"There was just nowhere to go," Wallace said. "When a car loses it in front of you, there's nothing you can do."

He pitted and returned to the track, but part of the damaged sheet metal was scraping against a tire, forcing him to the garage for more extensive repairs.

"The left front fender was hitting the left front tire and going to blow the tire out," Wallace said. "I told the guys, 'We've got to fix this thing. This is crazy.'"

He started the 10-race Chase with strong showings at New Hampshire (sixth) and Dover (third), but the last three races have been miserable. Wallace had tire problems at Charlotte and finished 24th, followed by a wreck at Martinsville that left him in 19th place.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "Three weeks in a row, we've had a wreck. It's hard to believe. We came through all year long with no problems."

Busch was five laps from a scheduled pit stop when he radioed to his crew that he needed to come in right away because a tire was losing pressure.

He didn't make it. Busch spun into the wall, sustaining heavy damage to the front of his car, and limped back to the pits as the yellow flag came out on the 123rd of 325 laps.

Busch was more than 50 laps behind when he got back on the track. At the end, he was the only member of the powerful Roush Racing team to finish out of the top seven.

Running behind Edwards, Mark Martin was third, Matt Kenseth fifth and Greg Biffle seventh.

"I do hate that Kurt Busch has his problem early," team owner Jack Roush said. "If not for that, we could have had them all in there."

But, with his drivers making up half of the Chase field, Roush knows he can't complain too much.

"All five of our teams have had more good fortune than the average of our contemporaries," he said. "We knew we would have to give some of that back."

While the Chase started out with everyone bunched close together, the first seven races spaced things out considerably. Stewart has a 43-point lead on Jimmie Johnson and a 75-point edge on Biffle.

No one else is within 107 points.

"The issue is being resolved by who's having trouble - who breaks a part, who's involved in a wreck," Roush said.

For those relegated to the back of the elite field, there's still plenty of incentive to finish strong.

Wallace, for instance, is the only Chase driver without a victory this year. He would like to take care of that oversight before he calls it a career.

"I'm still standing here," he said. "We've got three to go. We're going to be trying to win some races before the year is over."