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Another week. Another race. Another Kyle Busch ... oh, wait. He ran out of gas. Matt Kenseth, that wascally wabbit, won the Windows 10 400, which was marked by many system crashes. In fact, I've never seen so many cars run out of gas in the final three laps of a race. Joey Logano's Ford coasted out of the racing groove (and victory lane) at Pocono Raceway first. Later Jeff Gordon said he thought he was trying to save fuel at the end so that he could salvage 10th or 12th.

Gordon finished third.

A week earlier, I noticed that almost no one at Indianapolis actually ran the number of laps listed beforehand as the "fuel range." At Pocono, I learned why. I know it's an inexact science, this mileage game, but I'm glad the pilots of airplanes in which I’ve flown are better at it than NASCAR teams.

Roger, tower, we’ve got ample fuel to make Tulsa. Aw, hell, Captain, let’s try to reach Denver. I dare you.

Five races remain in the regular season. To quote the Charlie Robison song, I reckon "these are desperate tiiiiiimes."

While watching the NBC Sports Channel presentation from my living room, I kept hearing Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, and various and sundry other personalities assure me that drivers were no longer shifting gears while I watched in-car cameras show me drivers still shifting gears.

That may have contributed to the anarchy of the ending because, of course, "these are desperate tiiiiiimes."

This morning I read a blog -- there are so many blogs, even I have a couple; this one may have been icanbeanascarwritertoo.com -- claiming that Sunday's race was proof positive that Kyle Busch cannot possibly win a Sprint Cup championship.

That's a bit much, don't you think? He was trying to be the first driver in eight years to win four consecutive races. He failed. He ran out of gas with less than a lap to go. He finished 21st. That gives him five races to pick up 13 points on David Gilliland. Busch has four victories. Gilliland, who occupies that all-important (to Busch) 30th place in the standings, has zero top-10 finishes.

I think Busch will manage. In fact, I think Busch will make the Chase if he runs out of gas in all five races between here and the Chase.

Am I predicting that Busch will win the Chase? Heavens, no. Only a fool would make a prediction on the Chase. That format has more windmills than the Goofy Golf on the Ring Road. Anyone who makes it -- and 16 is truly more than enough -- can win it, and anyone can lose it.

They might as well hire Wayne Brady and play Let's Make a Deal.