LONG POND, Pa. -- Kurt Busch's winless drought is over. His absence from the Chase may not last much longer, either, not with the way crew chief Pat Tryson is calling all the right shots.

Busch dominated Pocono Raceway from the opening lap on Sunday and raced his way back into championship contention, giving himself a perfect belated birthday gift: a trip to Victory Lane.

A day after he turned 29, Busch snapped a 51-race losing skid that lifted him into the 12th and final spot of the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings with five races left until the championship races start.

"It's been 50-something races and that was a tough burden,'' Busch said.

Busch, who missed the Chase last season after qualifying in 2004 and 2005, hadn't been in the top 12 in points since a 100-point penalty for reckless driving in June knocked him six spots down to 17th.

Now he's back and on his biggest roll of the season. He turned a 13-point deficit behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. into a seven-point edge.

"The big picture is we've got a few more races to go until Richmond,'' Busch said.

Busch, who had surged to 13th in the standings entering the Pennsylvania 500, led all but 25 laps and made his second career Pocono victory look easy. The 175 laps led was a Pocono record.

Not even a lug nut problem on pit road under caution late in the race and a hard-charging Earnhardt affected him very much. His No. 2 Dodge was clearly the car to beat all day.

Busch fell to ninth on the restart on the 143rd lap, but quickly made up ground and passed the revitalized Earnhardt for the lead with 47 laps left.

The 2004 series champion needs to keep his hot streak going -- three top 10s in four races -- if he wants to keep his spot for the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship.

It was Busch's first win since March 26, 2006, at Bristol, and he was second in both Pocono races last year.