LONG POND, Pa. -- Kurt Busch slid out of his royal blue No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge after pulling it into a garage stall directly behind his transporter.

He was soaking wet and slightly flushed in the face -- but after four hours and 500 grueling miles around Pocono Raceway, he was entitled to look that way.

But before he met with the media, Busch walked around the front of his car, shaking his head. He stared -- almost glaring at it -- as he wrinkled his brow before walking toward his hauler, never pausing to look back.

That he had come back from a spin in the race's first quarter (watch video) that knocked him back to last place to finish eighth, and in the process moved closer in the driver standings to getting into the 12-man Chase for the Sprint Cup field was little consolation to him.

His recent record at Pocono, which included two wins and two second places in his past five starts, was also no help -- as they were achieved in the previously used "standard car," not NASCAR's new chassis, which has been an aggravation to Busch and a lot of others in the Sprint Cup garage.

"The car was probably its best on the first lap of testing [May 27], when the track was fresh," Busch said with a mirthless laugh. "We always struggle when the track gets rubbered-up, and the more the track gets rubbered-in, the tougher it is for us.

"We were struggling early on with a very loose racecar and at the end we were very, very tight. I just don't know what we're missing."

Busch started 11th and that's about where he was running when he spun into the infield coming off Turn 1 on Lap 40. He quickly explained his bemused look when he eyed his car's nose, post-race.

"That goofy front splitter," Busch said of the damage from the spin through the infield grass, which bounced the entire car more than a foot off the ground at one point. "You can't spin out and then not have it get knocked off, with the grass and uneven surfaces.

"My front splitter is actually sawed-off on the right side, which is a separate problem, so we've got our work cut out for us."

Busch's solution is simple.

"To me, they need to raise that front splitter," Busch said. "I think it would create more excitement, you wouldn't have to worry about it and then you would get better racing."

Kurt Busch

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Busch created his own brand of excitement when, after being penalized for pitting before the service alley was open and dropping to the rear, he and crew chief Pat Tryson chipped away with various pit moves and were back into the top 10, in eighth, by half distance.

The car came and went in the second half, when four of the race's 10 cautions flew and, despite the handling shortcomings Busch described, was well-positioned at the end.

"It worked out perfect with those yellows through the mid-portion of the race," Busch said. "We were able to do fuel-only one time; we were able to do two tires the next and we leap-frogged probably 15 guys.

"So maybe the car didn't finish eighth with its speed, but we did it with pit strategy -- and it's been a long year without a top-10 [since he finished second in the season-opening Daytona 500] -- so maybe it was just time."

The fact that fellow Dodge driver Kasey Kahne, who wheels Gillett Evernham Motorsports' No. 9 Charger, has won three of the past four Sprint Cup events, including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race, helps his demeanor a bit.

"Kahne looked like he was struggling a few weeks back," Busch said. "But now he's winning races. So maybe it's just right around the corner for us."

Busch matter-of-factly swore he'd need just as much effort from now until Richmond, 12 races from now, to qualify for the Chase and a chance at his second series championship.

"This was a day when we were given lemons and we turned it into lemonade," Busch said of his unofficial gap of 177 points to 12th-place Tony Stewart. "It's a long way out, right now, and we'll just keep our head down and keep trying to learn, each week."

Busch did take some solace from the time he spent on Sunday with Micah DeKorte, a 5-year-old guest of the Make-A-Wish Foundation whose dream was to meet the 2004 Cup Series champion.

The child and his family came to Busch's hauler a couple hours before the race and accompanied Busch to driver introductions.

"I really had a heartwarming experience with Micah," Busch said. "The way that those Make-A-Wish kids -- when they pick your name, it's almost an honor -- so I was happy to make his day and he helped to make our day."