Kurt Busch is showered with success

LOUDON, N.H.

Tony Stewart walked out of the garage Sunday alone and under a dark cloud. The thunderstorm that shortened Sunday's race soaked him and typified his fortune this season.

While fuel strategy and rain conspired to extend Stewart's career-long winless drought to 31 races, it rewarded those in need of help.

Kurt Busch, in jeopardy of missing the Chase, celebrated his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in 10 months. Michael Waltrip, who had not finished better than 23rd this season, placed second. J.J. Yeley, who failed to qualify for two of the past three races before this weekend, finished third.

"Hey, you take them when you can get them because you get burned plenty of times the other way," Kurt Busch said after his 18th career series victory. "Luck is definitely a player in racing."

Luck was only part of the story. Juan Pablo Montoya retaliated for some roughhousing by wrecking points leader Kyle Busch and later was penalized. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car was rear-ended as he slowed to pit. Rain stopped the race 17 laps from the scheduled finish.

Stewart, who led a race-high 132 of 284 laps, sat in his car until series officials called the event. Even as large raindrops doused the track, Stewart waited, hoping to keep racing.

It's already been a tough year for Stewart, who finished 13th Sunday. He's come within six miles of winning the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600. He was passed for the lead on the final lap at Daytona and lost the lead at Charlotte with three laps to go because of a flat tire. Two other times he's wrecked while running second after contact with Kevin Harvick, costing Stewart numerous positions and points.

"It's just been the oddest year I've seen for this race team," Stewart told TNT. "It's just frustrating. Nothing you can do."

The one good thing for Stewart, though, was he climbed two spots to ninth in the season standings. Yet, he's only 41 points ahead of Matt Kenseth, who is 13th and trying to climb back into the top 12 for the Chase.

Kurt Busch gained four spots to 18th, but is 222 points from the final spot for the Chase.

"We've got our backs up against the wall," he said.

Fortune turned his way in an unexpected manner.

Stewart led when the caution came out on lap 218 for Aric Almirola's spin. Stewart and most of the leaders didn't pit. Busch, 13th at the time, did. A full fuel load, though, left Busch about five laps shy of making the distance. The Penske cars haven't had the best fuel mileage this season, but constant work helped the team find ways to save gas.

One caution could mean Busch could finish with what he had in his tank, while those that stayed on the track had to pit again.

Those cars did after Jamie McMurray wrecked Earnhardt 29 laps from the scheduled end. That moved Busch into the lead followed by Waltrip, Yeley, Martin Truex Jr. and Elliott Sadler.

Two laps after the restart, Busch's teammate, Sam Hornish Jr., clipped Clint Bowyer and wrecked him. Then came the Kyle Busch-Montoya tussle down the frontstretch. As the field ran under caution, the rain forecasted throughout the day finally arrived.

That gave Kurt Busch the win and Stewart another bad break.