Green Flag Finally Falls at Michigan

AP-NASCAR: Michigan: Kurt Busch wins again

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) - Kurt Busch won for the second time in three races, capturing the Nextel Cup event at Michigan International Speedway that had twice been postponed because of rain. He ended a 51-race winless streak two weeks ago at Pocono.

In winning the 3M Peformance 400, Busch resumes his late-season charge to a spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. The 2004 Cup champion solidified his berth in the 12-man lineup by holding off Martin Truex Junior in the closing laps for the 17^th win of his career.

A spin by Greg Biffle with just two laps remaining sent the race into overtime. But Busch easily pulled away from Truex when the green flag waved for a two-lap shootout on lap 202. He beat Truex to the finish line by about eight car-lengths on the two-mile oval.  With just three races remaining until the start of the 10-race

stock car playoff, Busch remains 12th in the standings, 33 points behind Truex. Dale Earnhardt Junior jumped past Ryan Newman and into 13th, but a slow pit stop late in the race cost him a top-10 finish as the fan favorite wound up 12th.

The rain-delayed race is the first Tuesday event for NASCAR in the modern era.  NASCAR's last Tuesday run was in West Virginia in 1970.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)