BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Kurt Busch climbed from his No. 2 Dodge following the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway and tried to gather his thoughts before talking with the media.

Part of this process included repeatedly slapping his car with a wet towel after wiping his sweaty face with it, then angrily slinging it into the open driver's side window. Later he slammed an empty water bottle to the ground after draining its contents.

Busch was frustrated, and had every right to be. Tormented might even be a better word to describe his emotions at that moment.

On a day when he led a race-high 278 laps and was in the lead just 16 laps from the checkered flag, Busch finished third. Worse yet, at least in his mind, was the fact that the race winner was Jimmie Johnson, whose No. 48 team has captured three of the first five races this season as it works on extending its unprecedented string of four consecutive Sprint Cup championships.

"I'd rather lose to any of the other 42 cars out there than the 48," said Busch, almost spitting the words out in disgust. "Losing to the 48 sucked. I'm sure everybody out here wanted anybody but the 48."

It was about that time that crew chief Steve Addington arrived on the emotional scene and delivered a few positive words that seemed to help the visibly upset Busch calm down.

Keeping it to themselves

Asked about it later, Addington said he would prefer to keep what he said to his driver private -- but a lengthy conversation with the crew chief revealed at least a thread of the secret theme.

Yes, this was a race Busch could have and maybe even should have won -- even though it is not unusual for the driver who leads the most laps at Bristol to fail to reach Victory Lane. And yes, it stinks to lose again to Johnson's dominant team.

But overall, this was a great weekend for not only Busch, but for the entire Penske Racing organization -- which is beginning to show staying power not only in the Cup Series but also in the Nationwide Series. Busch is up to sixth in the Cup points standings, has one victory and one pole, and has finished in the top 10 in three of five races. His Cup teammates, Brad Keselowski and Sam Hornish Jr., also ran well for most of Sunday's Food City 500 (Keselowski ended up 13th and Hornish had been running 12th with 47 laps to go when his engine lost a cylinder).

And on Saturday, Penske pulled off a one-two finish in the Scotts Turf Builder 300, with young Justin Allgaier winning his first Nationwide race and Keselowski finishing second.

Maybe there really is something to the fact that Penske is the only Dodge organization left standing in the NASCAR garages. Team owner Roger Penske tried to tell everyone that during the pre-season media tour in Charlotte last January, but was met with much skepticism. (Continued)