Busch, Hendrick team shine at New Hampshire

LOUDON, N.H. -- For all those skeptics who thought Kyle Busch would fade from sight after his split with Hendrick Motorsports was announced in the spring, take note.

After finishing fourth in the Sylvania 300 Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway in his No. 5 Chevrolet, Busch still has a possible championship in his sights as the Chase for the Nextel Cup moves onto its next stop at Dover. That would be an interesting parting gift from him to current car owner Rick Hendrick, as next season Busch will begin driving for owner Joe Gibbs at Joe Gibbs Racing.

At the same time, a more cautious -- and he claims more mature -- Busch said that he takes nothing for granted and he realizes there is a long way to go.

What was his

Jeff Gordon was all smiles after the New Hampshire race, pulling into a tie atop the Chase.

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"It's good. It means a lot," Busch said of his strong Chase start. "We've definitely got to be able to have strong runs throughout the Chase, and not just here this first weekend. We hope to be looking real good after the first three, then see what Talladega brings us, and just go on from there."

Busch was far from alone among the Hendrick drivers who excelled Sunday. Jeff Gordon finished second to race winner Clint Bowyer at New Hampshire, Jimmie Johnson settled for sixth and Casey Mears, although he is not in the Chase, placed a respectable eighth.

It left three Hendrick cars in the top five in the Chase standings, with Busch making the biggest jump of any Chaser except Bowyer by moving from ninth to fifth. Johnson and Gordon sit atop the Chase standings with 5,210 points each, although Johnson holds the tie-breaker edge over Gordon by virtue of his six race wins this season to Gordon's four. Busch is only 35 points off their pace with 5,175 points.

While Gordon, Busch and Mears said they were pleased with their efforts, Johnson's team had hoped for a better finish, according to crew chief Chad Knaus.

"We set goals to finish in the top five. We're a little disappointed with finishing sixth," Knaus said. "But the guys did a good job. Jimmie did a good job. I just didn't do a very good job of adjusting the car -- so we weren't able to get that top-five."

Knaus did concede one point. Finishing sixth was a whole lot better than last year, when Johnson's No. 48 team opened the Chase with a 39th-place finish at New Hampshire before recovering and going on to win the championship.

"It feels good to be able to come out of here a lot better than we have the past couple of years at this point," Knaus said.

Gordon said he knew he didn't have what he needed to overtake the dominant Bowyer, who led 222 laps of the 300-lap event at the 1-mile track. That's why he was so pleased to be able to finish second.

"It was a real good day. I'm so proud of this race team. That was a great effort to come from 18th [where he qualified] and fight our way up to finish inside the top five," said Gordon, who didn't lead a single lap. "I know this Chevrolet is absolutely worn out. We drove the brakes, the tires, and just everything completely off this thing.

"Clint Bowyer, my congratulations to him. He was the class of the field. And we just lost track position. ... That one group of yellow flags just really got us behind so we had some catch-up to do. We had great pit stops. I'm very happy to see the Chase started off like this."

So was Busch, who again downplayed his lame-duck status at Hendrick. He will begin driving Toyotas for Joe Gibbs Racing at the beginning of next season, meaning he is down to his final nine races in the No. 5 Chevy fielded by Hendrick.

"Week in and week out, I keep describing the fact that everybody is still behind me. We still have our team meetings and we still go through all the information processes, just as we did from the beginning when I joined Hendrick Motorsports," Busch said. "It's no different here anymore, and I don't think it will be -- because it would not only hinder my performance, but it would Jeff and Jimmie's as well, too."

As for his own earlier stated worries that life at Hendrick might not be as rosy as it has been since the announcement that he would be leaving, Busch added: "I think you've just got to be a big boy and put all that stuff behind you and go on and grow up -- and realize that there are better things in the future."

That could include the immediate future.

"It's Week 1, man. There are nine more races to go, and we've still got Talladega," he said when he was asked to assess his chances of actually winning the Chase.

"I assessed our chances last year, saying we could win the thing -- and we struggled a little bit. So, you know, I'll assess ours the same this year by saying we've got a great shot of winning it. We've got a great team. We've got the same team we had last year. We went through the whole Chase last year, and I think we've gotten stronger and developed an even better relationship along the way this year where we can really chase this thing."