Busch's good fortune strictly bad news for Earnhardt Jr.

[Outdoors Junkie]

The race that would never start looked as though it would never end in the final laps.



It took almost 48 hours, two postponements, one fog delay and a green-white-checkered overtime shootout to get it in, but it was well worth the wait for Kurt Busch.



Busch won for the second time in the past three Nextel Cup races, solidifying his hold on the 12th and final Chase qualifier spot.



For Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, it was a long wait for a painful ending at Michigan International Speedway.



Say goodbye to the No. 8 car making the Chase.



It doesn't get any worse than this for Earnhardt Nation -- their hero probably losing a Chase spot to the anti-hero, Busch.



Earnhardt overshot his pit stall late in the race, which led to a 12th-place finish. Not a bad day, but 12th won't get it done when the guy you need to beat wins the race.



Earnhardt still ranks 13th in the standings, but he's 163 points behind Busch with three races to go before the playoff field is set.



Junior isn't mathematically out of it, but it will take a herculean effort now and a major collapse by Busch for Junior to end his time at DEI with a Chase run.



It also didn't help Earnhardt that DEI teammate Martin Truex Jr. finished second and remains 11th in the standings. Truex is 33 points ahead of Busch.


Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Kurt Busch leads Martin Truex Jr. to the finish line Tuesday at Michigan International Speedway.

Gordon has no Chase worries, but the new format worked against him for the second consecutive race. Gordon had one of the best cars Tuesday before a late-race gamble cost him.



The No. 24 team elected not to pit under a late caution and move up to second on the restart. But old tires didn't work for him. Gordon fell back, got loose and spun into the grass when Kenseth tapped him from behind.



"It was my fault what happened with Matt," Gordon said. "I tried to get out of the way, but he had too much momentum."



Gordon finished 27th, not that it matters. He was going for the win to get the 10 bonus points, the same thing that caused him to drive aggressively and spin while leading at Watkins Glen.



For the first time, drivers in the Chase will be seeded by wins. Gordon is tied with teammate Jimmie Johnson with four victories each.



"If we can't win and get the bonus points, I don't really care where we finish," Gordon said.



Johnson finished third for the second consecutive race. Gordon and Johnson had their crew chiefs back on the pit box after serving six-race suspensions.



Busch must have felt as though he was suspended from Victory Lane after going 51 consecutive races without winning, but the magic is back for the guy who won the championship in 2004.



Things have changed since Pat Tryson took over as Busch's crew chief in late June. The No. 2 Dodge has run up front consistently, finishing 11th or better in each of the past six races.



Busch broke his winless streak at Pocono two weeks ago and proved Tuesday that it wasn't a fluke.



"This backs up what we did at Pocono," Busch said. "I thought that was a pretty good setup, so we used it here. This one was a really tough and hard-fought win."



Busch was cruising to an easy victory when things got dicey in the final laps. The caution came out with 11 laps left, bunching up the field and forcing everyone to make a decision about pitting or staying out.



Busch stayed out, as did Gordon, while the other cars near the front pitted for fresh tires.



Sometimes that makes the leader a sitting duck. Not this time.



It didn't work for Gordon, but Busch was strong enough to use the clean air to his advantage and keep the field behind him.



And he would have to do it twice. A Greg Biffle spin brought out the last yellow with two laps left in regulation.



So Busch had to hold off Truex in a two-lap shootout. Truex never seriously challenged Busch for the lead.



"Kurt did an awesome job on every restart," Tryson said. "The man obviously is an incredible driver."



He always has been, but it didn't look that way when he first made the move to Penske Racing to replace Rusty Wallace.



Busch's first job was to repair his image, which took a beating at the end of his time with Jack Roush's team.



Busch has endured some rough spots along the way, including a bumping incident on pit road this year when he almost punted a member of Tony Stewart's crew.



But most of the time, conduct hasn't been his problem. What Busch lacked was the equipment to showcase his skills and the right man calling the shots.



He has both now, which means, like it or not, Busch is back as a championship contender.