Avoiding mishap keeps Busch in place for the chase

Tuesday, July 19, 2005 | 9:15 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

LOUDON, N.H. -- Bobby Labonte nudged into Kurt Busch's blue Ford by mistake Sunday afternoon, sending Busch's car into a smoky spin. It looked for a moment as if Busch's car would hit the wall or collide with another car. It did neither.

Busch's car slid to a halt as it faced traffic, unharmed. He turned the car around on the 36th lap and somehow finished second in the New England 300, behind only Tony Stewart. Championship runs include good fortune. Busch was fortunate Sunday.

Had he been forced to drop out right after the wreck, Busch, the defending NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion, would have surely fallen out of the top 10 in the standings after 19 races. Instead, he zoomed to fifth place from 10th, a huge gain for one week.

With seven races left until the 10-driver field for the second Chase for the Nextel Cup is determined, Busch would seem to be in great shape. Sometimes, a break or two is all it takes to win a title.

"It's the same feeling as last year," Busch said. "Let's run some races, get some nice, smooth finishes."

Busch, 26, might be one of the most unspectacular champions in NASCAR history. Dale Earnhardt Jr. probably received more attention for finishing ninth Sunday than Busch did for finishing second. Earnhardt, 13thin the standings, was swarmed by reporters outside his hauler and peppered with questions about squeezing into the Chase.

"Obviously, my situation looks a heck of a lot better than it did six weeks ago," said Earnhardt, who trails Dale Jarrett, the driver in 10th place, by 59 points, 2,254 to 2,195. "We were on our way out, and now we're climbing back. Hopefully, we have what it takes."

It takes consistency, not necessarily excellence, to grab a spot in the Chase. The top three drivers in the standings -- Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Stewart -- have combined for 10 victories. The other seven drivers have one victory combined.

That was by Busch, nearly three months ago in Phoenix. It pays to steer clear of trouble more than it pays to gamble on winning. Rusty Wallace, the 48-year-old veteran, has not won a race but is fourth in the standings because he has finished every race.

"Another good points day, and we've got to keep that up," Wallace said Sunday after finishing eighth, his 10th top-10 finish of the season.

A driver gets five bonus points for leading at any point during a race. That might not seem like much of a reward, but those points may mean something later. Busch took the lead late Sunday because Stewart was too busy thwarting Kyle Busch, Kurt's 20-year-old brother.

Stewart's car was so powerful that he grabbed the lead back from Kurt Busch five laps later. But the five points gave Busch as many points, 2,347, as Ryan Newman, who finished seventh Sunday to move up one spot in the standings to sixth.

Drivers call it "points racing," usually with a scowl. Until NASCAR comes up with a different system, the drivers are getting used to scrounging for points. A finish in the top 10 is regarded as an accomplishment.

"You have to learn to like them," Newman said of top-10 finishes. "Forty-two other cars are out there, and the odds are stacked against you. You've got to take what comes to you when it comes to this points-racing stuff."

Skinner had the fastest lap on the 2 1/2-mile oval with his backup car, and was second-fastest overall with his primary car with a lap of 179.653 mph.