Kyle Busch will have chance to defend Sprint Cup title

A year after a storybook comeback from a broken leg and foot carried Kyle Busch to his first Sprint Cup title, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will have the opportunity to go back-to-back.

Busch finished second Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, advancing to the Chase for the Sprint Cup finale, next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Busch will join teammate Carl Edwards, six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and Phoenix race winner Joey Logano, who held off the field Sunday to claim the final automatic berth. Edwards and Johnson advanced before Sunday's race by virtue of wins earlier in Round 3.

Joey Logano, Kyle Busch clinch final Chase spots at Phoenix

Busch, who won four races this season, was considered a title favorite from the strong four-car Toyota team. But he was in danger of being eliminated on a tiebreaker with Logano until teammate and race leader Matt Kenseth collided with Alex Bowman on an overtime restart -- extinguishing Kenseth's title hopes and allowing Busch to move up to second behind Logano.

"It's really unfortunate and devastating to have the race come down to the end like that," Busch said. "I got a little bit better restart than the 88 (Bowman) did, and I felt like I had a run on him, and I got enough to the inside of him that if he chopped me he was going to get hit and wrecked. And that's what happened. But it carried on into the 20 (Kenseth), so essentially I guess I wrecked a teammate.

"It's so frustrating an aggravating, and I feel horrible about it. It's a shame it had to come down like that."

Busch won five races last year, including four in a five-race span, after sitting out the first 11 races while recovering from injuries suffered in a crash during the Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. His fifth win, at Homestead, clinched the championship and helped him garner the ESPY for best driver.

In an interview with USA TODAY Sports two weeks ago, when Busch was asked if finally having a title took some pressure off, Busch said:

"... we have the perfect opportunity this time to take advantage of the situation again, because we’re already champions from last year. We have the perfect chance to go out there and repeat."