BROOKLYN, Mich. -- With another solid finish in Sunday's Heluva Good! 400 at Michigan International Speedway, it appears that Kurt Busch has intermediate tracks all figured out. That's the good news.

The bad news? Of the next seven circuits on the Sprint Cup schedule, only one -- Chicagoland -- could be considered similar to Michigan. And every time it seems that Busch and the No. 2 Dodge team have gotten some momentum, something unexpected happens.

Press Pass

Kurt Busch talks about his third-place finish and the importance of the summer stretch.

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"We've got to find some more consistency, you're right," Busch said after his third-place finish. "There's a couple tracks coming up in the summer months that we're looking at. Then there's some we feel very comfortable going into.

"It's been an interesting year for us. Tracks that I've struggled on in the past we've done really well. Tracks that we've expected to do well on we've struggled. So I just feel like once we turn the corner on finding a consistent setup for us week in and week out, then we'll be stronger."

After winning at Atlanta and finishing third at Bristol, Busch had back-to-back disappointments at Martinsville and Phoenix. A return to the intermediate surface at Texas resulted in a fourth-place finish, but then came struggles at Richmond and Dover.

Charlotte was the perfect antidote for Busch's short-track ailment, as he led 252 laps en route to the victory in the Coca-Cola 600. And a sixth-place finish at Pocono, followed by third at Michigan, has him fourth in the points. That's 118 behind Kevin Harvick, heading into the most varied portion of the schedule.

"Right now, with the variety of race tracks coming up, we're going to see the different strengths of all the teams coming up here," Busch said. "Because we've got a road course [Infineon], a flat, 1-mile oval [New Hampshire], Daytona -- [a] superspeedway, restrictor-plate race -- then a mile-and-a-half like Chicago, then we have a week off.

"That's the chunk of the schedule I'm looking at next. [A] variety of tracks coming up are going to show some of the strengths of the teams."

Infineon Raceway is one of those head-scratchers for Busch. He's started no worse than sixth six times in nine career starts at the road course in the Sonoma foothills. And yet, Busch has struggled, particularly in the past three seasons, with finishes of 22nd, 32nd and 15th.

Busch concedes it's not due to lack of effort.

"It's amazing how much effort we put into road-course racing, yet we only go there twice a year," Busch said. "I feel like at Penske, we have a very strong car. It's advanced itself since last year, with carrying more right-side weight, weight lower in the race car.

"... We've had good qualifying cars in the past at Penske. In the race, seemed to lack a little bit of that forward bite, that grip coming off the corners, which is important at Sonoma. We have all that horsepower. We have to stay out there so long on the last tank of gas, that's where the key to the race is, is maintaining that grip, staying out there as long as you can on a tank of gas."

Even with a few stumbles, Busch feels good about where he is in the standings. But if there's a concern, it's keeping positive momentum.

"We feel comfortable right now with our points situation," Busch said. "But we still want to have some consistent runs to back up any mistakes that could pop up, whether it's missing the setup, getting caught up in a wreck. These next few weeks, the variety of race tracks, we have to continue to explore new ideas. I think that always makes you stronger when you're knocking more things off your checklist."

And on that checklist is the race at New Hampshire in two weeks, a track that will kick off the Chase for the Sprint Cup in September.

"That's how you get off to a good start in the Chase," Busch said. "Then there's those bulk of mile-and-a-halfs that are in the Chase. Chicago tells you a little bit. Atlanta is what Atlanta is because it chews up tires so bad.

"For us, we have to look at Dover, see what we can do to be better there. Martinsville has always been a struggle for me. Then we go to Talladega in the Chase."

But before Busch can even think about how the Chase will shake out, he said complacency would be the worst thing that could happen to his outfit.

"Things change so fast in this sport," Busch said. "You can be onto something like I think we are with this Miller Lite team.

"In three months when the Chase starts, we could be scratching our heads. 'Where did our speed go?' This next stretch, it's a lot of fun, the variety of races, the action that happens out on the track, some guys are going to start feeling the pressure of not being comfortable in the Chase, then there's going to be those guys pushing hard to get those wins."

Guys like Denny Hamlin, who recorded his fifth victory since the spoiler replaced the rear wing on the current chassis. But Busch isn't willing to single out one championship favorite just yet.

"I mean, Gibbs is running strong," Busch said. "Jeff Gordon said out there [Sunday] that Hendrick is not the top team. It's like, 'Come on, Jeff, it's going to be all right, buddy, you finished fourth.' Right now everybody is in this game. Nobody is going to separate themselves anytime soon. I see the competition right now the most equal it's been in years."

So it's on to Sonoma. And for Busch, a chance to work on more than just a summer tan.

"The summer run right now, it's important to continue on with good, solid finishes," Busch said. "It's also important when you have a car to win, like what we had [Sunday], to be able to pull that thing into Victory Lane and get those 10 bonus points."