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Kurt Busch prevails in a wild one at Atlanta

Sun 7th, March 2010

Hampton, GA (Sports Network) - Kurt Busch charged from fourth to first after a first green-white-checkered attempt and then held off the field following a second two-lap overtime finish to win Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Busch held the lead in the closing laps, but Carl Edwards bumped Brad Keselowski from behind and sent him flying upside down into the wall to set up the first overtime attempt. While most of the leaders pitted for the last time, Clint Bowyer remained on the track and took over the top position.

After the restart, Busch squeezed through Bowyer and Paul Menard to reclaim the lead. However, Jamie McMurray got loose and hit Bowyer to trigger a seven- car pileup and set up a second try under NASCAR's revised green-white- checkered finish rule.

Busch held off Matt Kenseth at the finish by a half-second to win at Atlanta for the third time. He won the spring race here one year ago. Busch also spoiled Jimmie Johnson's attempt for a third consecutive victory. Johnson, who won at California and Las Vegas, finished 12th.

"I felt like this year's battle was much tougher with the competition than last year," Busch said. "But it's just because the tires changed a little bit, aerodynamics changed a little bit.

"I'll tell one thing that changed, and it changed for the better...[crew chief] Steve Addington has taught me how to drive cars different, how to look at them differently. When you want to get up on the wheel for somebody like Steve, good things happen."

During the off-season, Addington left Kyle Busch's team at Joe Gibbs Racing and headed to elder brother Kurt's squad at Penske Racing. The duo won for the first time in just their fourth race together.

Kenseth finished second, and Juan Pablo Montoya came in third. Kasey Kahne, who won the fall event at Atlanta last September, led the most laps with 144 but settled for a fourth-place run. Paul Menard finished a career-best fifth.

A.J. Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, who started from the rear in a backup car, Kevin Harvick and Scott Speed completed the top-10.

Harvick kept his points lead for the third consecutive week, holding a 26- point advantage over new second-place racer Kenseth. Busch climbed from 19th to 10th in the standings with the win.

"The season couldn't have started any better for us," Kenseth said. "The last three weeks have been a lot of fun. We've been learning a lot. Our cars have been faster, and we've been able to make some adjustments. The pit crew has been on the money."

The 500-mile race at Atlanta created tire issues for many drivers, including Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and pole sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr., all of whom pitted several times when Atlanta's abrasive surface affected their tires. Atlanta also featured a flurry of accidents.

Edwards and Keselowski had an earlier encounter when Keselowski clipped Edwards and shot him up the track, sending him and Joey Logano into the wall.

After spending most of the race in the garage for repairs, Edwards retaliated by bumping into Keselowski in the final laps. Keselowski was not injured following his spectacular crash but appeared woozy at first when he exited the car.

"Just a wild ride that was uncalled for," Keselowski said. "To come back and intentionally wreck someone, that's not cool. It could have killed someone in the grandstands. I know it's a little ironic that I'm saying it, but at least I didn't do it intentionally when it happened."

NASCAR parked Edwards and ordered him to the sanctioning body's hauler for a discussion following the event.

"Brad knows the deal between he and I," Edwards said. "I wish it wouldn't have gone like it did, but I'm glad he's okay and we'll just go on and race some more and maybe he and I won't get in anymore incidents together. That would be the best thing."

Edwards and Keselowski have a history of on-track skirmishes. Last April at Talladega, the two made contact just short of finish line. While Keselowski drove to his first Sprint Cup victory, Edwards' car spun and then sailed into the safety fence along the frontstretch at the 2.66-mile track. Eight race fans sustained minor injuries after being struck by debris from his car.

The two also tangled in last October's Nationwide Series race at Memphis. Keselowski put Edwards into a spin in the closing laps before he won that event. Edwards wound up finishing sixth.