By By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch raced side-by-side with Carl Edwards in the closing laps at Daytona International Speedway, each driver running wide open toward the win.
When a multicar accident brought out the caution behind them, the field was frozen and no one had any idea who won Saturday night’s race. After an anxious few moments while NASCAR looked at the ending, Busch was awarded the win.
Again.
For Busch, the Sprint Cup Series points leader, it was his sixth Cup win of the year. In all, Busch has 12 victories this season spanning all three of NASCAR’s top series.
Edwards finished second and was disappointed not to have one last lap to finish his race with Busch.
Matt Kenseth, Edwards’ teammate at Roush Fenway Racing, was third. He was followed by Kurt Busch, Roush driver David Ragan and Robby Gordon. Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin rounded out the top 10.
It seemed for a bit that Jeff Gordon was headed to his first victory of the season as he led 46 laps late and was handily holding off Busch as the race wound down. But with four laps to go, Busch pulled inside of Gordon and claimed the lead mere seconds before a multicar accident brought out a caution.
It set up an overtime sprint to the finish, and Edwards said Busch was slow on the restart. It stacked the traffic up behind him and Edwards ran into the back of Gordon, sending him spinning through the grass.
Edwards darted to the outside to move around the action and, with a push from Kenseth, pulled alongside Busch to set up a thrilling drag race. But they didn’t get a chance to race to the checkered flag because of contact between Travis Kvapil and Sam Hornish Jr. that triggered a multicar accident that froze the field.
Busch’s team frantically watched the scoring tower, then jumped over the pit road wall in celebration when Busch’s No. 18 was declared the winner.
Busch celebrated with his customary sarcastic bow to the crowd. But with every victory, the fans who have loved to hate him are slowly warming up to NASCAR’s newest star. He was cheered this time, just like he was two weeks ago after winning on the road course in Sonoma.