Kyle Busch Eligible to Win NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Despite Injury Absence

NASCAR announced Wednesday that Kyle Busch is still eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup despite missing time due to leg and foot injuries.  

A statement posted on the governing body's official site noted it had waived the rule that a driver must compete in all events to make the Chase. NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O'Donnell explained the decision, per the release:

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On behalf of everyone at NASCAR, it's great to have Kyle Busch back racing. Our decision to grant Kyle a waiver that allows him to continue running for a championship is one we discussed extensively. The spirit of the rule never was designed to punish drivers who are unable to compete due to extenuating circumstances such as recovering from a racing accident.

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The ruling comes one day after Busch deemed himself ready to return in time for this weekend's Sprint All-Star Race in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jared Turner of Fox Sports noted the driver admitted he's ahead of the schedule originally set for his recovery:

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I call it an accomplishment because it's faster than anyone would have anticipated, even the doctors. I feel like I've had some of the best doctors in the world working with me. ... They've really helped me and pushed me tremendously. Without them, I don't know that this announcement would have been today. It would have been probably later down the road.

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To make the Chase, Busch will need to win a race and finish inside the top 30 in points. The latter is a standard that wasn't waived by NASCAR and does make the process a little more tricky than going all-out to win each weekend.

Dustin Long of NASCAR Talk provided some insight into what Busch must accomplish along with a victory to reach racing's version of the playoffs: "Over the past four years, the average point total for 30th place in the driver standings is 420.8 points. Factoring that, Busch would need to average a 16th-place finish to be in the top 30 when the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins in September."

It's certainly not an impossible standard, assuming Busch doesn't suffer any injury setbacks. He's one of the series' best drivers when healthy, finishing 10th last season and fourth in 2013. It does leave a small margin for error, though.

Busch is likely just happy the door to the Chase is now open as he prepares for his return to the track.