Kyle Busch edges Tony Stewart in Shootout thriller

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The pack is back. And so is the Big One.

Kyle Busch edged Tony Stewart in a thrilling finish to the first race of 2012, using a sling-shot pass Saturday night on the last lap of the exhibition Budweiser Shootout to beat the defending NASCAR champion to the checkered flag.

It gave Busch a victory in a wild race that included two incredible saves by the eventual winner to stay in contention in the 75-lap sprint around Daytona International Speedway.

“I don’t know how many times I spun out, but I didn’t spin out, you know?” smiled Busch, who gave Toyota its first Shootout victory.

The event was a preview of next weekend’s season-opening Daytona 500, and showed that NASCAR has successfully broken up the two-car tandem racing that dominated restrictor-plate racing last year. Fans were overwhelmingly opposed to that style of racing — NASCAR said earlier this month surveys showed over 80 percent of those polled hated the tandem — and the sanctioning body worked hard through the offseason to develop a rules package that would separate the cars.

It was obvious at the start that the new rules worked as the drivers were lumped into a big pack and raced two-and-three wide for almost the entire race. Although it led to two big accidents — including an accident that sent Jeff Gordon skidding on his roof for what he said was the first time in his career — the drivers were nearly unanimous in their approval of the racing.

“I actually had fun racing at Daytona again, which I haven’t had for a while,” said Stewart, who was beat by .013 seconds — the blink of an eye — to the finish line.

“I don’t know what the consensus is from everybody else, but I had more fun as a driver tonight than what we’ve had in the past.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., a strong critic of the tandem racing, also was thrilled with the new product despite having his night ruined in one of the many accidents.

“I like this kind of racing better. At least I know what to expect,” he said. “And I feel like I’ve got a better chance with this style than I did last year.”

The first multi-car accident was a mere nine laps into the race, and began when David Ragan nudged Paul Menard to trigger the nine-car pileup.

A later wreck with two laps remaining sent Gordon sliding on his roof for roughly 1,000 feet. The four-time NASCAR champion ultimately climbed out the window with his car still upside down, but, like Earnhardt, praised the racing.

“It’s pretty wild and crazy, but I liked this better than what we had last year. Definitely,” he said.

Gordon’s accident began when he ran into the back of Busch, who used his second save of the night to avoid the accident. An earlier save left fellow competitors in awe.

“There aren’t many people, ever, who could have done that,” said three-time champion Stewart, who was behind Busch on the first save.

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