By Jared Turner Entering the playoffs, Kyle Busch was widely considered one of three championship favorites. Now with three races in the books and the playoff field trimmed from 16 to 12, Busch might be considered the championship favorite. That’s because Busch — the 2015 series champion — won two of the first three playoff races and earned more playoff points over that stretch than anyone else, bringing his total for the year to 41. Busch begins the Round of 12 in second in the standings, just 18 points behind fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. — the driver who was overwhelmingly…

By Jared Turner In less than two seasons as a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver, Chase Elliott has recorded five runner-up finishes but has been unable to find Victory Lane. Sunday’s race at Dover was undoubtedly his most painful defeat yet. Despite leading a race-high 138 laps and holding a healthy four-second lead in the race’s final portion, Elliott could not hold off Kyle Busch, who overcame a deficit of more than four seconds in the final 60 laps and took the lead with one to go. “I’m just so disappointed in myself,” said Elliott, a 21-year-old second-generation driver who…

By Jared Turner There were no real surprises among the four playoff drivers who on Sunday failed to advance from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12. Despite opening the 2017 season with a victory in the Daytona 500 and being with one of the sport’s top organizations in Stewart-Haas Racing, Kurt Busch has struggled all year to find speed on a consistent basis. The same could be said for Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne, who punched his ticket into the playoffs with a victory at Indianapolis in July but has otherwise done little of note. Richard Childress Racing teammates…

By Jared Turner Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s last full season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has by all accounts been a struggle. On top of failing to make the playoffs, the sport’s 14-time most popular driver has recorded only one top-five finish. So it was refreshing when Earnhardt arrived at Dover with a fast car on Friday and then managed to carry his speed over through the rest of the weekend. Earnhardt finished seventh in Sunday’s race in what he thought was a top-five car. With seven races to go, Earnhardt now has an opportunity to finish his driving career on…

By Jared Turner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t have a really great car on Sunday at Dover, but a stroke of luck propelled him into the Round of 12. One of several drivers who hadn’t pitted during a round of green flag stops in the race’s first stage, Stenhouse caught a big break when the caution flag waved and trapped most of the field one lap down. As a result, Stenhouse finished fourth in the first stage and in so doing earned seven championship points — which later proved to be the difference between advancing and not advancing. Not surprisingly, Stenhouse — who ultimately…