Kurt Busch conquers Pocono, ends drought

Considering it had been nearly a year -- 34 races, to be precise -- since Kurt Busch last saw Victory Lane, an extra 24 hours certainly didn't make the feeling any less sweeter when he took the checkered flag Monday in the Axalta We Paint Winners 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Even with a substitute crew chief in Johnny Klausmeier on his pit box, Busch got the right read on his fuel mileage, led the final 32 laps, and held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his first Cup win since last year's first Michigan race.

Not a bad way to put yourself back in the Chase and become the ninth different race winner of the 2016 season.

And when it came to the fuel mileage, which can be an issue on the 2.5-mile triangle track, Busch was genuinely surprised when told how much he needed to save.

"I was like 'whoa. How many laps shy are we?'" Busch said in the post-race media center interview. "They said two. These are really long straightaways at Pocono and you have to manage fuel as well as maintaining lap time."

In the end, Busch had enough fuel to not only earn his 28th Sprint Cup win by just over a second over Earnhardt Jr., but he completed the burnout with enough fuel left to park the car in Victory Lane.

With the second half of the "regular season" officially under way -- only 12 races left until the Chase -- we may be on pace to have a similar number of Chase qualifiers as we did last year (13). 

Kyle Busch may be leading the way with three wins already in defense of his championship, but there's always something new and entertaining to make you pull your hair out about the guy. Seems that a debris caution that came out while the No. 18 was leading at lap 89 was reason to bark on his radio that NASCAR was favoring rookie Chase Elliott.

Elliott assumed the lead during the pit stops and held it for the next 29 laps, but finished fourth. Busch's day took a rapid turn downhill when he got together with Ryan Newman and hit the Turn 1 wall. He would head to the garage and end up 31st.

Of course, anything other than first is never good enough for Kyle, but that's fine. Passion is good. Accepting disappointment and moving forward is much better.

In the final stat analysis, there weren't a lot of lead changes to talk about, but the racing is getting better when Pocono handles four- and five-wide racing with a few hearts that skip extra beats and leave fans wondering where the moves came from.

We'll still have our angry moments as we move forward -- see Brad Keselowski's issue with a comment Fox analyst Jeff Gordon made on his team's pit road penalty during the broadcast -- but they don't need to stick around any longer than necessary.

After all, the next race is right around the corner.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports or email tominator19@yahoo.com

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Michigan International Speedway (2-mile oval), Brooklyn, Michigan.

-SPRINT CUP: Firekeepers Casino 400, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 400 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Kurt Busch.

-XFINITY SERIES: Menards 250 presented by Valvoline, Saturday, 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90.

Race distance: 250 miles, 125 laps.

2015 champion: Kyle Busch

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Rattlesnake 400, Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 400 kilometers (250.5 miles), 167 laps.

2015 champion: Matt Crafton.