KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Kyle Larson was eliminated from the NASCAR playoffs after an engine failure ended his race Sunday after just 73 laps at Kansas Speedway.
Larson's misfortune opened the door for past champion Matt Kenseth to battle Jimmie Johnson for the final spot, but Kenseth ended up in the garage with 70 laps remaining after a mistake by his team following a crash that ended his day early.
That meant little drama at the end of the Hollywood Casino 400, the final race of the quarterfinal round as NASCAR cut its playoff field from 12 to eight drivers. Larson, Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were eliminated.
Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson -- who spun twice during the race -- was the last driver to advance with his 11th-place finish giving him a nine-point edge on Larson.
"There was one point in the race where it ... didn't look too good," Johnson said. "I've been doing this long enough to know it's never over until the checkered falls."
Larson entered the day with a 29-point edge on the cushion on ninth in the standings, but that dropped 19 points just one stage into the Hollywood Casino 400, and it appeared Larson would likely be among the four drivers eliminated after the race ended.
"It's disappointing," the Chip Ganassi Racing driver said after his race ended and before the race was over. "There's still a long race left to go. Maybe we can get lucky [but] ... 29 points isn't going to be enough. It's painful."
Drivers advance in the three-race playoff rounds with either a win or by not being one of the four playoff drivers who are the lowest in points following the third race.
Larson had finishes of 10th and 13th in the opening two races of the three-race quarterfinal round, but his four wins this year helped give him enough "playoff points" to have the cushion going into Kansas.
The engine failure, though, earned him just one point, and he needed other playoff drivers such as Johnson or Kyle Busch to have trouble.
"I'm not stunned because freak things happen in every sport," said Larson, whose team gets its engines from Hendrick Motorsports. "If you look at every year in the past ... at least in the new playoff format era, not always does the best team win. Not saying we're the best team, but we've been one of the contenders all season long.
"It's a long 10-race playoff season. Anything can happen."
Larson's car started to sputter about 10 laps before it blew. The team was trying to develop a plan to diagnose the issue but never got that opportunity.
"You're not going to create a magic potion and have your engine start running," Larson said. "Oh, well. I knew as soon as I felt it or heard it, I was done. ... It just stings. It is what it is."
Three drivers trying to rally to finish from behind the cutoff to catch Larson and others had trouble.
Kenseth was eliminated from championship contention when he was involved in a crash with 70 laps remaining and his team had more than seven crewmen over the wall at one time, as the team tried to fix it within the five-minute allotment.
Kenseth, who is not returning to Joe Gibbs Racing this year, entered the race 10th in the standings but was in position to advance where he was running on the track when the wreck occurred.
"Honestly, I've never heard of disqualifying somebody from the race when you've got one too many guys over the wall. I don't know what happened," Kenseth said. "I don't have a lot of good things to say at the moment. ... It's [a] pretty disappointing way to end. We can't even go back on the racetrack because of an error we made."
Two tire carriers were over the wall just waiting to put tires on the car, but they are counted as part of the seven-crewmen allotment. The rule is new to NASCAR this year as part of the five-minute time limit to fix wrecked cars.
"We don't fall under the damaged vehicle policy that much -- and we missed a head count," Kenseth crew chief Jason Ratcliff said. "It's a shame that's a rule that takes competitors out of an opportunity for the championship. ... It really needs some restructuring and work now that it is in place."
After Kenseth was parked by NASCAR, Johnson's entire outlook changed as he just needed a top-20 finish. Johnson had not heard about why Kenseth had gotten parked until after the race.
"You win some, you lose some," Johnson said. "In an unlucky day, I guess we came out with some luck."
Johnson's two spins came before the wreck that collected Kenseth -- a wreck that involved 13 cars -- but Johnson found his way through unscathed.
"I'm bummed we didn't have more speed in general, but we maximized our day and took advantage of our opportunity and got it done," Johnson said. "I'm very thankful we all kept our heads in the game and stayed alive for the championship. ... You never know what it's going to take."
If he's going to win an eighth title, Johnson said he feels he needs to win a race as the team has not been stout enough to feel confident they could point their way into the championship race.
"You have to imagine [my team's] optimism was pretty low, like mine, and then we missed that wreck on the back straightaway and found some new life and had a new agenda on where to finish on the track," Johnson said. "We kept ourselves alive.
"Moving forward, we've got to win one of these next three races. That's our only way to Homestead."