A bummer for Kurt Busch

LOUDON, N.H. -- Kurt Busch had one of those days that a driver would just as soon forget.

After making a charge over the past two months just to get into the 12-man field for NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, Busch started third in Sunday's 43-car field at New Hampshire International Speedway and ran with the leaders in the early going.

Runaway winner Clint Bowyer said after the race that Busch was the only driver that seemed able to hang with him most of the day.

But Busch's No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge slowed on lap 122 with what the team initially thought was a dropped cylinder. The rest of the race was a blur for the 2004 series champion, who wound up hanging on for a 25th-place finish that left him last in the Chase standings, 102 points behind co-leaders Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon with nine races remaining.

"We had a strong car there in the beginning and then had a motor problem," Busch said. "A later diagnosis left us with a problem with our carburetor. It left us without the power that we needed.

"It's kind of a bummer. But we worked hard to get into this Chase and we'll still work hard. This [race] is a big lump, but it didn't hurt us, so we'll see what happens."

JUNIOR'S DAY: A week after being the major story as he tried and failed to make the field for the Chase, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a relatively unnoticed, 16th-place day at New Hampshire.

"We had a really good car at the beginning of the race, then we kind of out-thought ourselves on the adjustments and the car just went away," he said. "It got so loose I couldn't hang on to it and I spun out.

"We got a lot better toward the end, but there was just too much track position to make up and not enough time. I am real proud of my guys 'cause no one on this team has given up at all."

SAM'S CHOICE: Open-wheel star Sam Hornish Jr. came up short in his attempt to qualify for Sunday's race, which would have been the three-time IndyCar champion's Cup debut. Hornish is hoping to run several Cup events before the end of the season as a test to determine if he wants to make the jump to NASCAR full-time.

Roger Penske, who owns Hornish's cars in both series, said the failure to race at New Hampshire is just a minor setback. Penske said he doesn't know at this point what 2006 Indy 500 winner Hornish will decide.