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Carl Edwards finished second and was pleased with the outcome after initially loathing the new surface.
“Kyle had the best car. He was pretty unbeatable,” Edwards said.
He was followed by Gordon, who was happy with the finish but frustrated he’s still searching for his first win of the season.
“We know we have some work to do,” Gordon said.
Earnhardt finished fourth, David Ragan was fifth and was followed by Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin — Busch’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing. Travis Kvapil, Dave Blaney and Burton rounded out the top 10.
Almost every driver struggled in some sense, and the problems started early, with Elliott Sadler losing control of his car on the second lap of the race — squeezing Tony Stewart into the Turn 1 wall.
“I just made a huge mistake,” Sadler said. “I just went in too low into Turn 1. I was actually trying to give Tony more room and I just got loose under him and spun into him. I know he’s pretty mad at me, but nothing I did intentionally. I’ve never had any problems with him, and don’t want to start it tonight.”
The incident prevented Stewart, winner of Friday night’s Nationwide Series race, from ever running with the leaders and he finished a frustrating 21st.
But Stewart’s angst was nothing compared to what pole-sitter Greg Biffle felt after leading 95 laps, only to end his night early with a broken timing belt. The part failed after he’d already overcome two loose wheels, and the crew errors had Biffle seething after his early exit.
“I give 110 percent as a driver all the time and you just want your equipment to last and be able to win these races,” said Biffle, a highly sought after free agent who has yet to reach a contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing.
“You can deal with a flat tire or something like that, but when it’s self-induced, it makes it even harder. It makes it so hard to swallow.”
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