Compliments of NASCAR, Inc.

Daytona Beach, FL -July 5, 2008- Busch bested Carl Edwards in a door-to-door drag race Saturday night that ended under caution with Busch earning his Sprint Cup Series-best sixth victory of the season.

"That's him," crew chief Steve Addington shrugged.

Say what you want about Busch, the driver NASCAR fans love to hate. But the kid doesn't quit, not when a checkered flag is on the line.

"It's me who has to stay a little calm and get back in the rhythm of what was going on," Busch said of his knack for overcoming diversity at restrictor-plate tracks. "I just made sure I drove a smart race and finished it out, and whatever came to us would come to us."

What he got was his 12th victory of the season spanning all three of NASCAR's top series.

But he had to wait several anxious moments for this one, which wasn't decided until NASCAR reviewed the running order at the moment the final caution came out.

Busch and Edwards were drag racing with a little over a lap remaining when a multicar accident brought out the caution behind them. The field was frozen, and while Edwards was pretty sure Busch was a nose ahead, no one was 100 percent certain.

"I can't believe that we're here right now," Busch said in Victory Lane. "We didn't have the best car. Luckily we were leading there when it mattered most."

Edwards finished second and was disappointed not to have one last lap to finish his race with Busch.

"Man, I hate to lose the thing like that," Edwards said. "I wish we could have raced a little longer."

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 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.

"I think it's ours," spotter Jeff Dickerson radioed to Busch. "We were out front. Is it ours?"

"I don't know," Addington replied. "They are looking at it. I don't know."

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.

Gordon, who seemed poised to end his 22-race winless streak, wound up 30th and was disappointed with the way the final restart played out.

"Everybody was laying back and trying to get a run on the last restart," Gordon said. "They got the jump on me. I tried to block him. Maybe I came across (Edwards') nose. Hard to say. It's unfortunate. We had such a strong run."

But Gordon was more upset he allowed Busch to pass him with four to go.

"I should have stayed on the bottom. My car was so good on the bottom," he said. "I'm probably more mad at myself than anything else."

Tony Stewart, winner of this race in 2005 and 2006, fell ill before the start and had J.J. Yeley on standby in case he couldn't make it to the finish. Stewart drove his car as high as third, but gave up the seat right before the halfway point and Yeley took the car to a 20th-place finish.

So there was no redemption for Stewart, who lost the season-opening Daytona 500 when winner Ryan Newman passed him half a lap from the finish.

Instead, it went to Busch, who actually dominated the 500 by leading a race-high 86 laps before he was shuffled back to fourth in the closing laps.

But he recovered to earn his first restrictor-plate victory two months later when he won at Talladega in April. It gave him confidence to return to Daytona and give Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing the victory they were denied in the 500.

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 9 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 190/5 162 Running
2 24 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 175/5 162 Running
3 19 17 Matt Kenseth Ford R+L Carriers 165/0 162 Running
4 36 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 160/0 162 Running
5 6 6 David Ragan Ford AAA 155/0 162 Running
6 37 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Robby Gordon Motorsports 155/5 162 Running
7 41 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 146/0 162 Running
8 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Nat'l Guard Defending Freedom (ACU) / AMP Energy 152/10 162 Running
9 25 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 138/0 162 Running
10 2 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 134/0 162 Running
11 28 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 130/0 162 Running
12 14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Reese's 127/0 162 Running
13 20 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Pillsbury Cinnabon / Cheerios 124/0 162 Running
14 10 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper 121/0 162 Running
15 1 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Vertis / Menards 123/5 162 Running
16 43 45 Terry Labonte Dodge Richard Petty Driving Experience 115/0 162 Running
17 35 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Swing Vote 112/0 162 Running
18 4 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 109/0 162 Running
19 12 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 106/0 162 Running
20 17 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 103/0 162 Running
21 34 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS 100/0 162 Running
22 39 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Polaroid / TUMS 97/0 162 Running
23 30 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 99/5 162 Running
24 8 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 91/0 162 Running
25 21 00 Michael McDowell * Toyota Champion Mortgage 88/0 162 Running
26 15 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 90/5 162 Running
27 29 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 87/5 162 Running
28 5 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Haas Automation 79/0 162 Running
29 42 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Penske Truck Rental 76/0 162 Running
30 26 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 78/5 162 Running
31 11 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Ford. Drive one. 70/0 161 Running
32 40 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Marathon with WeldTec 67/0 157 Running
33 22 21 Jon Wood Ford U.S. Air Force 64/0 155 Running
34 16 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 61/0 152 Running
35 7 160 Boris Said Ford No Fear / Advance Auto Parts 63/5 149 In Pit
36 32 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Samsung HDTV / Alltel 55/0 149 Running
37 23 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 52/0 140 In Pit
38 31 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Juicy Fruit Slim Pack 49/0 132 Running
39 38 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Best Buy / Garmin 46/0 129 Running
40 27 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditRep
ort.com 43/0 124 In Pit
41 18 109 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 40/0 103 In Pit
42 13 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull 37/0 100 Running
43 33 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 34/0 69 In Pit





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