Kyle Busch returns No. 18 to Winner's Circle
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Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both passed Greg Biffle in the final laps to take second and third, with pole winner Gordon fifth.
Stewart, who complained about the Goodyear tires after blowing a right front and hitting the wall hard the previous week in Las Vegas, was even more upset after Sunday’s race.
“Most pathetic racing tire in my career,” he said after climbing out of his Toyota.
Stewart added, “If I were Goodyear, I’d be really embarrassed about this weekend and what they brought us here. It didn’t keep us from winning the race, but how we got to second, I don’t know.”
The suspect tires, plus the Atlanta debut of NASCAR’s bigger, bulkier Car of Tomorrow, which is harder to drive than the old car, made it a tough day for everyone.
“It’s really hard to drive these things because you’re always on the edge out there,” Busch said. “It’s the worst I’ve ever felt in a race car, and I won the race.”
Busch, who started the season with a pair of fourths and an 11th-place run, was dominant for much of the 325-lap race, winding up leading a race-high 173 laps. But it looked as if his team might have made a mistake by leaving the No. 18 on track after a caution flag came out on lap 232.
Busch, Gordon and Clint Bowyer, who wound up sixth, all stayed out on lap 233 while the other lead-lap drivers pitted.
With four fresh tires, Edwards, still smarting from being knocked out of the points lead earlier this week when NASCAR hit his team with a big penalty for a missing oil tank lid at Las Vegas a week ago, shot out of fourth place on the restart on lap 236. He drove into the lead on lap 240 and started to pull away, building a lead of more than 7 seconds before the next caution flag flew on lap 262.
Edwards was still in control and appeared to be pulling away again after the next restart on lap 268, but smoke began to spew from the car. It became thicker as the laps went on and Edwards finally pitted on lap 275, his race over.
That left Busch, who took over the series points lead from Edwards, on top, and that’s where he stayed.
“There’s been a lot of stuff said, but I think this shows we have a fast car and they’re going to have to deal with us every week,” said Edwards, who was docked 100 points and also lost crew chief Bob Osborne to a six-week suspension for the Las Vegas infraction.
Two-time reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had another so-so day, coming back from a lap down twice to finish 13th, the last driver on the lead lap.
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