Perhaps it is not wise to see the finish of Saturday night's Lifelock 400 in Joliet, Ill., as some sort of demarcation between the respective fortunes of Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson. It, however, surely is tempting.

When Johnson passed Busch for the lead with 16 laps remaining, Busch came over his team's radio and declared, "Race over."

But that's not how it turned out. Not this year, when everything that happens somehow adds up to 18 -- the number on the side of Busch's Toyota.

Johnson was pulling away and sailing toward his second win of the season until a late-race caution for David Gilliland's blown engine set up a two-lap race to the checkered flag. That opened the door for Busch, and he plowed right through it for his seventh win of the season, and his third in the past four races.

Johnson won 10 races on his way to last year's crown, and when you win that many races in a season it sometimes seems like every break goes your way. In case you hadn't noticed, that's what's happening for Busch this year.

Part of that somehow is the fact that Busch's new team at Joe Gibbs Racing was hungry for success. Bobby Labonte won a championship with that team, but there had been some lean days after that.

Crew chief Steve Addington said he knew the team had good people and good race cars, but knew there was a part of the puzzle that wasn't fitting. Busch has provided that piece, and the results have been startling.

"I never dreamed it could be like this," Addington said. "Winning seven races already is crazy."

It might also have been crazy how, coming into this season, Johnson was being somewhat overlooked despite the fact he'd won the past two titles.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved in as his teammate in the Hendrick stable, though, and it had almost become a foregone conclusion that Johnson would win his handful of races and have the team on the path to another championship.

As the Cup Series heads into its final off weekend of the season, however, it appears there's a new route.

To win the title this year, Johnson and everyone else is going to have to deal with Busch and his team.

Busch said he won Saturday night's race by "pulling a Jimmie Johnson on himself" with the pass off the final restart.

"Anywhere from here on out Jimmie could do the same thing right back to me," Busch said.

"I know there will be times when it's reversed. But with him being the defending champions, I have the utmost respect for them. To beat guys like that is really special."

The problem for Johnson and everybody else, however, is that this season it's becoming routine.

IRL

If Scott Dixon keeps having this kind of luck, he won't have to worry about how much gas he has left at the end of the season.

The man who lost the 2007 IndyCar Series title to Dario Franchitti because he ran out of gas on the final lap of the last race, won his fourth event this year and padded his points lead.

When Dixon got the word too late to follow leader Tony Kanaan into the pits Saturday, he took over the lead and had enough fuel to stay there when officials red-flagged the Firestone Indy 200 with 29 laps left. That gave him his third consecutive win at the Nashville Superspeedway in Gladeville, Tenn.

Dixon now has won at Homestead, Indianapolis, Texas and Nashville, padding his lead in the season points race to 68 from 43.

It's the 14th career victory for Dixon and also the 100th overall in motorsports for Chip Ganassi Racing.

NHRA

Racing on a 1,000-foot strip for the first time in NHRA history, Top Fuel dragster Tony Schumacher and Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson won their respective classes yesterday during the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.

Following the recent death of Scott Kalitta in a racing accident, the NHRA took an interim step, shortening the length of Top Fuel and Funny Car races from a quarter-mile to 1,000 feet.

It's the first time the NHRA has conducted racing at any distance other than a quarter-mile at a national event since the first one was held in 1955.