Busch edges Edwards as race ends under caution

If Murphy's Law has a countervailing theorem, it should be named for Kyle Busch.

In an anything-that-can-go-right-will-go-right season, Busch notched his sixth victory in Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

With a pack of cars wrecking behind him in Turn 1, Busch had edged ahead of Carl Edwards on the final lap of a green-white-checkered finish when NASCAR called the 11th caution of the race (read more). The field was frozen at that point, with Busch the winner and Edwards the runner-up.

Matt Kenseth ran third, followed by Kurt Busch, David Ragan, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin.

Busch recovered from a tap from teammate Denny Hamlin that forced him out of line and dropped him from third to 37th in the running order on Lap 82. That proved just a temporary setback for the driver of the No. 18 Toyota, who had regained contact with the field by the time Elliott Sadler's hard crash in Turn 4 -- the result of a blown tire -- caused the fourth caution of the evening on Lap 109.

"We had a pretty good car [Saturday night]," Busch said. "We didn't have the best car, but we were strong enough to get to the front when it mattered most. I've really got to thank the 17 [car]. Kenseth gave me a great push there at the end. The 17 was strong and helped us.

"We were just able to stay clear and get the good breaks when it mattered most. There's no rabbit's foot and no four-leaf clover that I have stashed in my pocket."

Busch claimed the 10th victory of his career and extended his series lead to 182 points over Earnhardt, who passed 37th-place finisher Jeff Burton for the second position in the standings.


Burton and Casey Mears got the worst of a chain-reaction crash that started with contact between David Ragan's No. 6 Ford and Tony Stewart's No. 20 Toyota, with J.J. Yeley driving in relief of an ailing Stewart (read more).

Edwards was rueful that the race ended when it did.

"I just wish we could have raced a little bit longer," Edwards said. "That would have been great. Man, I'd have given anything if we could have run at least to the end of the back straightaway, but that's the way it went, and Kyle did a great job.

"They were real fast. It was a little nerve-wracking there before they announced the winner, but I don't know what to tell you. Second place is second place. Really wanted to win."

Jeff Gordon ran in or near the lead for most of the night, but after the final restart on Lap 161, he spun at the entrance to Turn 1 after contact with Edwards. The four-time Cup champion came home 30th but held the sixth position in the series standings.

"I spun Jeff out there," Edwards said. "He came down across the nose, and I couldn't lift."

Notes: Burton's streak of 23 consecutive top-15 finishes ended Saturday. ... Robby Gordon's sixth-place finish was his first top-10 since he ran eighth in the season-opening Daytona 500. ... Jeff Gordon led 46 laps, second only to Earnhardt's 51. ... Pole-sitter Paul Menard led the first 19 leaps and finished 15th. ... Despite catching pieces of a couple of late-race wrecks, Yeley brought Stewart's car home 20th, but Stewart fell three positions to 12th in the championship standings.