BROOKLYN, Mich. -- For the next four weeks, Kurt Busch will be focused on what he called "the race within a race."

While he's battling 42 other cars on the track, he'll also be cognizant of where he stands with a handful of other drivers trying to take away his spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

"This just seems like a different type of race," Busch said at Michigan International Speedway. "There's other guys still out there who are in the Chase or not in the Chase, but yet you focus on the guys that are around you in points."

Busch said while he's preparing for Sunday's 3M Performance 400, he's also busy keeping an eye on the cars directly ahead of him in the standings: Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick. At the same time, he has to be aware of teammate Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"It's really interesting, that group of five or six is in their own race, so to speak," Busch said. "When you sit down and look at the big picture, you just need to go race your own car and get the best finish you can, and not worry about the competition."

Busch's 11th-place finish at Watkins Glen, coupled with Junior's engine failure and Newman's multiple off-track excursions, allowed the driver of the No. 2 Dodge to build a 96-point cushion for the 12th and final spot in the Chase, which starts after Richmond.

However, Busch said the team isn't ready to relax.

"It's a good feeling to know that we are in but we're not out of the woods yet," he said. "We still have the mindset to go and catch guys in front of us and not to be content with where we are.

"Martin Truex Jr. is 50 points ahead of us, Kevin Harvick ... 120 points. Those are the ranges that we're looking at for the next few weeks. It's easy to gain 100, it's easy to lose 100. That's the bubble that we have."

One good thing: Busch has been in this situation before, which could play to his advantage.

"In the end, the bottom line is consistency," Busch said. "That's where you win championships, and that's how you get into the Chase. It helps, going through a championship run, especially with this format. In years past, you just had to be consistent to make it into the top 10."

If there's a race over the next four weeks that could play a key role in who makes the Chase, Busch said it could be the recently renovated Bristol Motor Speedway.

"The 1, the 8, our competition -- those guys all on the cusp -- [will be] running well over the next few weeks," Busch said. "The only wild card left, for some of the others, is Bristol. It's a brand-new surface, it's concrete, short-track action where anything can happen on any given lap."

Another variable could be the Car of Tomorrow, which will be used seven more times this season. Busch said drivers are coming to grips with the fact that the new chassis design requires a different mindset.

"You just can't get this car perfect, which is more like an old-school racecar," Busch said. "You just go out there and drive it, you get your elbows up and drive. Every test I've been on this year has primarily been a COT test. It hasn't been with the regular car.

"So you have to continue to work toward the future -- and the future immediately is two races leading up to the Chase -- Bristol and Richmond -- and once we start the Chase, half the races will be COT races. It will make a large impact on the Chase, maybe 50-50, since half the races are COT races."

Busch will roll off 15th on Sunday, one position behind Truex Jr. But Busch said it's not where you start at Michigan that matters most, but how well your car adapts to the changing track conditions.

"It's a tough track to be the fastest car, especially at the beginning of the race, through the middle stages and then at the end, because the track tightens up throughout the day," Busch said. "All the grooves get filled in with rubber, the track gets a little slicker. It makes for an interesting day because you've got to be a little loose at the beginning to be good at the end."

Busch was 24th in Happy Hour practice with a fastest lap of 183.332 mph -- one spot ahead of Truex Jr. -- but was seventh-quickest in the morning session.

Carl Edwards may have the car to beat Sunday, as he topped both practices. He and Greg Biffle were the only drivers to top 188 mph in the cooler morning practice. Other drivers who recorded top-10 runs in both sessions included Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

There were no incidents reported in Saturday's two sessions.