Kyle Busch would like a clear path to victory

Kyle Busch finished 19th in the NASCAR Cup playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night, but he thinks he would have finished fourth if not for drivers who should not have been on the track to begin with.

Busch finished a lap down in 19th after his car ran into the back of Garrett Smithley’s, who finished 12 laps down in 35th. Smithley has made 133 starts across the NASCAR Xfinity and truck series, but this was only his 12th start on the main circuit.

“We’re at the top echelon of motor sports, and we’ve got guys who have never won late model races running on the racetrack,” Busch said. “It’s pathetic. They don’t know where to go. What else do you do? I was told he was going to go high. I thought he was going to go high. He went middle because I thought he was going to go high. Killed our day. I don’t know. Should have run fourth probably. Instead 19^th.”

Smithley’s response: “Busch has never been in the position we’ve been in, so he doesn’t know how that goes.”

So there’s a lesson for all you drivers. Next time you get in a rear-end collision with someone, just say you thought the driver was going to go high so that it’s their fault you ran into the back of them. Judge Judy would buy that, I’m sure.

Bad news

The New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers got some bad news Monday when they learned that quarterback Drew Brees (Saints) will be out six weeks and Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers) will be out for the season because of injuries.

Oddsmakers responded immediately to the news and dropped the Saints from 8-1 to 20-1 to win the Super Bowl and the Steelers from 28-1 to 80-1.

Here are the current odds after Sunday’s games:

New England Patriots, 7-2

Kansas City Chiefs, 7-1

Rams, 7-1

Dallas Cowboys, 12-1

Green Bay Packers, 12-1

Chicago Bears, 16-1

Philadelphia Eagles, 16-1

Baltimore Ravens, 20-1

Chargers, 20-1

Minnesota Vikings, 20-1

New Orleans Saints, 20-1

San Francisco 49ers, 20-1

Seattle Seahawks, 20-1

Cleveland Browns, 25-1

Houston Texans, 25-1

Atlanta Falcons, 33-1

Buffalo Bills, 50-1

Indianapolis Colts, 50-1

Tennessee Titans, 50-1

Detroit Lions, 66-1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 66-1

Carolina Panthers, 80-1

Pittsburgh Steelers, 80-1

Jacksonville Jaguars, 100-1

New York Jets, 100-1

Arizona Cardinals, 125-1

Denver Broncos, 150-1

New York Giants, 150-1

Oakland Raiders, 150-1

Cincinnati Bengals, 250-1

Washington Redskins, 250-1

Miami Dolphins, 1,000-1

Your favorite sports moment

What is your favorite all-time L.A. sports moment? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com and tell me what it is and why and it could appear in a future Morning Briefing.

This moment comes from Charles Nabarrete:

I was 13 years old when I attended the 1959 World Series between the Dodgers and the White Sox. A family friend had season tickets and he gave us two tickets along the first base line about 25 rows from the field. It was a great afternoon watching my Dodger favorites and the unforgettable Minnie Minoso.

Several years later my mother returned the program that I had purchased, she kept all our family momentos, it was still in pretty good shape. So I went to the 50th anniversary celebration Dodger game of the 1959 championship at Dodger Stadium and had Wally Moon, Joe Pignatano, Tommy Davis, although I did not think he was on the 1959 team, and other former players autograph the program. I plan to give the souvenir to my grandson who is a great baseball fan.