And that's probably it.

Unless things change quickly for the young driver, two trips to the Big Apple are all he'll take with him from his first appearance in the Chase for the championship. His title hopes essentially ended two laps into the 10-race hunt for the Nextel Cup title when he crashed with Jeff Green in New Hampshire.

Considered a viable candidate to win the title before the Chase began, the New Hampshire accident knocked him to 10th in the standings. Then any shot of rallying back into contention was lost last week in Dover, Del., when his Hendrick Motorsports engine failed.

``I guess anything can happen, but I personally think the championship is over for us,'' Busch said this week. ``I hate to say never, so I'll put it this way: I won't be disappointed if I don't win the championship this year.''

With eight races to go, Busch already has accepted his fate. So he looks to the bright side of things _ the worst he can finish in the final standings is 10th, and that's good enough for a ticket to the season-ending awards ceremony in New York.

Older brother Kurt, the 2004 Chase champion, isn't even guaranteed a banquet invite this year: He'll need to rally to finish 11th in the final standings to score his ticket.

``No matter what, we as a team will get to go to New York and get to go up on the stage and be a part of the banquet,'' Kyle Busch said. ``That's pretty cool, and a decent consolation prize.''

As was the top-10 driver tour through New York earlier this month, where the 21-year-old Busch got to hang with NASCAR's elite. His entry into the top level hasn't always been smooth, with Busch inheriting some of the animosity his older brother had earned.

He's also riled veterans at times with his on-track aggression, and angered NASCAR officials for some of his actions.

So getting the opportunity to chill with the likes of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was something Busch will take with him for years.

``You don't really get a chance to talk to a lot of drivers, or hang out with them, at the track. It's not like we're knocking on the motorhome doors to get together,'' Busch said. ``So it was cool to be able to go to New York and see another side of those guys, and let them see another side of me.

``And then the one night, me and Jeff and Jimmie and Kasey (Kahne) just went to this nightclub and sat there and hung out just talking for a couple of hours and that was really cool.''

It's those experiences that might help Busch in the long run.

Nobody in NASCAR denies his talent; it's his actions that have come under scrutiny. From tangling with Tony Stewart on the track to throwing a safety device at Casey Mears, Busch has experienced a lot in just under two full years of Nextel Cup competition.

Despite the setbacks, he's stayed low under the radar since his May run-in with Mears, and raced his way into the Chase this season behind one win and 15 top-10 finishes. With a string of luck and a few good finishes, Busch could have been a contender for the title.

Instead, he's accepted that without a miracle, it won't happen for him this year.

That doesn't mean his team is giving up, though. Crew chief Alan Gustafson is working hard to keep morale up, and salvage something from their inaugural playoff push.

``If we can't go out there and win a championship, we're going to go out there and win races,'' Gustafson said. ``The worst we can finish is 10th.''