BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Stop! Get Hollywood on the phone. The script just keeps getting better when it comes to Winston Cup team owner Jack Roush.

First, Roush, who crashed his airplane into an Alabama lake on his 60th birthday, was considered clinically drowned in 8 feet of water, and then was both rescued and revived by a retired military man who spent much of his career as part of a search and rescue team. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

	Jack Roush, right, congratulates Matt Kenseth after his third Winston Cup victory of the season.

Next, eight days after being admitted to a Birmingham hospital in critical condition, Roush improves to satisfactory condition and holds a national press conference with members of the media, assuring them he's all right. Less than a month later, he is back on the Winston Cup scene, albeit in a subdued role, at Richmond, Va.

Fast forward a bit. Roush is far ahead of his rehabilitation and recovery program, so much so that doctors are giving him this week off from the rigors of 10 hours of weekly physical therapy to strengthen the left leg he mangled in the crash.

And now, here's the Academy Award-winning finale: Roush goes to Michigan International Speedway, his "home" racetrack, for Sunday's Sirius Satellite Radio 400. Not only is he barely using the crutches he has propped under his arms while he walks, he hobbles out of the 2-mile facility with his fifth win there as an owner, courtesy of young driver Matt Kenseth, who came off a red-flag restart to win a three-lap shootout with Dale Jarrett.

"MIS is home for me," said Roush, whose Roush Industries corporate headquarters is based in the Detroit suburb of Livonia, about 65 miles east of MIS. "Many race teams look at the Charlotte track (Lowe's Motor Speedway) as their home track based on where they live and work, but this is home for me.

"The first big racetrack I was ever on was MIS. When we do poorly here, it's a huge embarrassment. I can't wait to come back to the next race here.

"It's great to be back, it's great to win and it's great to be here with Matt."

Sunday's trip to Victory Lane marked Kenseth's third win this season and the fourth triumph in his Cup career.

"It's great to win at home for anybody," Kenseth said. "This is home for Jack and pretty close to where I grew up (in Wisconsin).

"Everything started for Jack from here. Whenever you can win, it puts a feather in the cap. This is a great victory for Jack, Roush Industries and Ford."

Will this feel-good story ever stop? After all the good that's resulted from such a bad situation, you have to wonder what Roush will do for an encore now. Perhaps end the season by being the owner of the Winston Cup championship team?

Kenseth comes up big again
But there's more to Sunday's story than just Roush. Kenseth showed a savvy and maturity that proves he's not only a darn good race car driver, but also put himself back in the Winston Cup championship hunt.

After spending much of the season on the heels of points leader Sterling Marlin, Kenseth struggled in the two races prior to Michigan, finishing with season-worst showings of 40th at Dover and 35th at Pocono -- this after winning the pole at the former and starting fourth at the latter.

The previous two races saw Kenseth slide from second to seventh in the standings. That's not a major slip with 21 races still left on the schedule, but it was enough to cause some concern within the Roush ranks.

Sunday's win boosts the Wisconsin native back up to fifth position in the points, 24 points behind teammate Mark Martin in fourth place, and 190 points behind Marlin.

Martin finished ninth Sunday, while Marlin struggled to a 21st place finish.

"This was a good team victory," Kenseth said. "We had a great pit stop at the end (took gas only with 11 laps remaining, which proved to be the deciding factor in holding off a hard-charging and eventual runner-up finisher Dale Jarrett), and that's what put us in contention. The guys did a great job with the gas-and-go. We're pretty pumped up right now."

Fortunately for Kenseth, the last lap came when it did. Had the race gone one more lap, it was practically a given that Jarrett, riding on fresh tires, had enough horsepower to catch and overtake Kenseth.

"I just needed one more corner, that's all, and I would have got by him," said Jarrett, who has a victory and a second-place finish in his last two outings.

Added Kenseth, "You'd better believe I'm glad there wasn't one more corner."

Make that Kenseth and Roush both.

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.