NASCAR Busch's slump continues

Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 was not completed in time for this edition.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CONCORD, N.C. -- Kurt Busch's chance to snap a two-race slump ended early in the Coca-Cola 600.
The defending Nextel Cup champ spun in Turn 2 on the ninth lap Sunday night and backed into the wall, then took his Ford to the garage. He wasn't sure what happened, but speculated that fluid leaking from another car might have been a factor.
Television replays from Sterling Marlin's in-car camera -- he was trailing Busch -- showed something spraying the lens.
"It just snapped around on me real quick," Busch said. "I don't know if there was fluid on the track or not. There was a bunch on the windshield and it just came around. Obviously, I was in no hurry. It's 600 miles."
Dropped in standings
Finishes of 37th and 17th the past two weeks dropped him from second to fifth in the standings, and Busch qualified 35th for the 600. He hardly had time to figure out how his Ford was going to run before he crashed.
Because the NASCAR point system rewards consistency, teams normally fix their torn up cars and make as many laps as possible, figuring even one position gained is worth it. But Busch wasn't looking forward to being well off the pace and possibly being in the way.
"That's one thing we need to work on with this point system is when you're back 36th or worse in the finishing order, there's no reason to go and take a damaged car back out there and be 4 seconds off the pace," he said. "It's going to be tough to get back out and be competitive, and we're going to finish in the 40s somewhere."
He eventually returned after losing 133 laps and had more trouble, crashing again in Turn 1 to finally end his night. Busch finished last.
Birthday boy
Ken Schrader had quite a 50th birthday.
First, his crew surprised him with a homemade "wheelchair" after the drivers' meeting, fastening two pieces of a used tire around a plastic chair. Schrader walked up just as truck driver Jeff Miles lowered the back liftgate to unveil the present, and he momentarily stopped and stared.
A fan yelled for Schrader to sit down in it, but that was going to happen.
"No!" he shouted with a big smile.
Car owner Beth Ann Morgenthau gave Schrader a big hug, and balloons and a sign wishing him a happy birthday adorned the chair.
"For me, it's really just another day," Schrader said. "It's a milestone I can't do anything about, and I don't think it's the kind of thing you want to miss. You know, the old, 'Oh, man, hate that happened the day before he turned 50,' and everybody talks about you in the past tense."
Later, he got an even better present when he led for the fourth time this season. Schrader was one of several drivers who stayed out during a caution for debris on lap 115, and he stayed out front briefly when the field took the green.
It didn't last, as 48-year-old Terry Labonte moved into the lead, the first race he's led during his part-time schedule this season.