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Kyle Busch celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series race in Richmond, Va., on Saturday.

"When you've got that confidence going, it carries a long way," said Tony Stewart, who spent one year as Busch's teammate at Gibbs. "I know what he's been driving ... (but) we all drive for good race teams and we all have good equipment. There's just guys that got that momentum on their side and got that confidence, that little extra that you need to be on top right now."

But Busch is not immune to setbacks, and spent the last month trying to recapture his mojo. A week after winning Bristol, he wasn't competitive in Martinsville and finished 24th. Driver error put him two laps down in Texas, where he finished 18th. He was flagged for speeding off pit road on the final stop at Phoenix, dropping him from contention to 17th, and, appeared to have the car to beat last week in Talladega until a late accident left him 25th.

A month without winning is enough to drive Busch mad.

"Four or five weeks does feel like an eternity, and that was bad," he said. "We didn't like it at all. At least just not finishing well."

But crew chief Steve Addington says the team learned a lesson last season, when it collected all its wins early and then faltered when the Chase for the championship began. Busch led the point standings most of the year and started the Chase at the top, only to finish 10th after two bad races broke his spirit.

With a NASCAR ban on testing this season, Addington needs to try new things to prepare for the 10-race push to the title. They'll forgo meaningless early season wins if it means being stronger when it counts.

"We're trying to be better and trying different things to get better as the season goes on," Addington said. "I think that we're headed in a good direction. We got to give up something. Last year's deal, it was just unacceptable. We've got to get better all year long and that's what we're working on."