Non-Chase driver Kyle Busch having his best-ever Chase

• Kyle Busch has five top-seven finishes in the Chase, matched only by Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski
• He's never finished higher than fifth in the points despite 24 career wins
• Busch has an 11.4 average finish in this year's Chase and a 103.4 driver rating, both career highs

Kyle Busch is having the best Chase of his Sprint Cup career.

Unfortunately, he is not actually in the Chase to enjoy it.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver recovered from a cut tire Sunday to finish second at Martinsville Speedway. It marked Busch's fourth top-five finish in seven Chase races. Only points leader Jimmie Johnson (with five) has more.

Moreover, Busch has five top-sevens, which is tied with Johnson and Brad Keselowski -- 1-2 in points -- for a series-high in the Chase.

It's a cruel irony in a season full of it for Busch, who has annually delivered powerful regular seasons before unraveling in the Chase. Just one of his 24 career Cup wins have come during NASCAR's 10-race title run -- in 2005, a year in which he didn't qualify for the Chase -- and his best points finish in eight full-time seasons was a fifth in 2007.

This year, Busch was seemingly a slam dunk to qualify for the Chase. Despite an uncharacteristically up-and-down campaign, he still held a 12-point lead over Jeff Gordon for the final berth going into the regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway -- a track that Busch historically dominates.

But an errant pit-strategy call put Busch two laps down as Gordon charged to a second-place finish. Busch wound up 16th, a result that crew chief Dave Rogers summarized by saying, "I blew it." Gordon made the Chase by a three-point margin over Busch.

What's happening now is the antithesis of Busch's career. In 2008, he won eight of the first 22 races but then finished last in the Chase. A year ago, he entered the Chase as the co-No. 1 seed after four regular-season wins then opened with a 22nd at Chicagoland Speedway and never recovered.

This year, he and his No. 18 team have mostly clicked since the green flag of the 27th race. His average finish of 11.4 through seven Chase races is by far the best of his career; his previous best was 14.1 in 2009 -- the only other year since 2006 that he missed the title run.

According to NASCAR stats guru Michael Forde, Busch's driver rating of 103.4 is easily a career-best through seven Chase races, and Busch is sixth among all drivers in points accrued during the Chase (and could be as high as third if not for a race-ending crash triggered by Ryan Newman last weekend at Kansas Speedway).

Busch's most dominant performance of the Chase might have been at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 30. He led 302 of 400 laps but finished seventh after the race turned into a contest of fuel mileage. He's had strong finishes at Chicagoland (fourth), Talladega Superspeedway (third), Charlotte Motor Speedway (fifth) and Martinsville -- where he reached Johnson's bumper a few times but couldn't make the pass for his first win at the 0.526-mile oval.

"So close," Busch said, "Yet so far away it seems like here at Martinsville, time and time again."