Kurt Busch cuts through the grass to avoid a wreck during the UAW-GM Quality 500. Credit: Autostock

Busch dodges bullets en route to top-five finish

CONCORD, N.C. -- What didn't happen to Kurt Busch on Saturday night?

Well, he didn't win. He didn't blow an engine. He didn't bust a transmission. He didn't hit the wall.

Kurt Busch

But Busch did about everything else at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the UAW-GM Quality 500. And after an admittedly lucky night, Busch managed to finish fourth and hang on to his Nextel Cup points lead.

"It was a tall order of adversity to overcome early on," Busch said.

You want adversity? Busch's Nextel Cup title hopes were nearly wrecked on the first lap, the first corner. Scott Riggs had missed a shift and buzzed his engine, slowing on the high side.

Several cars darted past, but Busch spun and hit Tony Raines. Somehow, no one else hit Busch, and he was able to drive the No. 97 back to the pits. The damage from the contact with Raines was minimal, and Busch was quickly back up to speed, even though he was deep in the field.

Busch worked his way to the top 10 when he came up on the lapped car of Kevin Harvick on Lap 223. The engine on Harvick's Chevrolet blew as the two cars raced into Turn 1, but Busch darted to the inside and away from the stream of oil from Harvick's engine.

"Harvick blew up in front of us and left a streak of oil right across the windshield," Busch said. "We could've gotten into that."

UAW-GM Quality 500 Near disaster Busch, Gordon involved in a wreck on Lap 1 Oil slick Kenseth, Mayfield spin after Harvick's engine blows Wrong place Martin, Newman collected in a late-race wreck

He didn't, but Matt Kenseth, Jeremy Mayfield and Carl Edwards weren't so lucky. They all hit the oil and spun, damaging their cars.

Meanwhile, Busch breathed a sigh of relief. But he'd need another break 89 laps later.

Brendan Gaughan cut a tire in Turn 3, slowed down and tried to get out of the way. But Jimmy Spencer plowed into the back of Gaughan's car off Turn 4, catching Mark Martin and Ryan Newman in the melee.

Busch, running behind Martin and Newman in fourth place, cut hard left across the tri-oval grass. The car stayed straight, and Busch missed the wreck.

"We had a disastrous Turn 4 episode with -- I don't even know who was in it," Busch said. "I just cut through the grass, just because I saw that as the only opening."

Rabbit's foot? Four-leaf clover? Horseshoe? The big end of a wishbone?

Busch must have had all of them inside his car Saturday night.

"We were able to scoot through there with no problems," Busch said. "Got lucky on that side of it, as well as most of the night, just being able to overcome all of the hurdles and the adversity.

"To be able to put together a top-five finish at a track that I've never finished in the top 10, it came at a perfect time. To be able to do this two weeks in a row, I hope I'm not wearing out my horseshoe too quick."

Remember Kansas? Busch spun the car off Turn 2 last week, but (of course?) didn't hit anything and was able to continue, persevering to a sixth-place finish.

Maybe it is luck Busch avoided all that trouble, but it says something about he and his team that Busch is able to come back from problems.

"Kurt Busch showed a lot of class tonight in the way he fought back," crew chief Jimmy Fennig said. "He never gave up and kept on digging."

Maybe it is simply destiny.

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"There has been circumstances that we've avoided by mere inches," Busch said. "The way we've bounced back from those and put together top-five efforts continuously, it's one effort to be lucky, and it's another effort to be good. You've got to have the whole package. Right now, we're very blessed to be in this situation tonight.

"Tonight was just horrible with all the circumstances that came in our direction."

But Busch handled them like a champion needs to handle them, Instead of panicking and making it worse, Busch stayed calm, let his crew fix the car and went back to work.

Every race can't be a bed of roses, and how a driver responds to adversity shows a lot about that driver's character. Busch has had bad races before, like his first trip to Bristol Motor Speedway.

First, Busch spun out on his own. A hundred laps later, he found another accident. Not done, Busch ran into another driver. Three sets of problems, just like Saturday night's race.

But Busch called the Bristol ordeal a "whole different set of circumstances."

"I've been able to mature over the years and understand when there's smoke, just left off, and hopefully, you won't get plowed in from behind," Busch said.

Maturity and Kurt Busch haven't been used in the same sentence too often, except when people talk about the lack thereof. But Busch's freak-out days seem to be over, and there haven't been any problems with Jimmy Spencer in a long time.

Maybe Busch got lucky at Lowe's Motor Speedway.But maybe, just maybe, he showed what it takes to be a champion.

Remember, a lot was thrown at him Saturday night.

"Then the kitchen sink on the back straightaway -- we avoided it, too," Busch said. "We had a busy day."