With a push from teammate Kasey Kahne, Smith roared out of the pack during the final 400 yards of a green-white-checkered-flag finish and won a race decided when NASCAR called the seventh and final caution an instant before the four cars battling for the win crossed the finish line.

Smith was the leader as the field was frozen when NASCAR called the caution. Kahne was first across the stripe but was scored in third place behind Smith and Joey Logano, who were the two lead drivers when the caution lights came on.

This was the same Regan Smith who was deprived of victory in a race he thought he had won at Talladega in 2008, when NASCAR demoted him to the 18th position for passing Tony Stewart below the yellow boundary line as the cars approached the checkered flag.

“I was having flashbacks, sitting on pit road–I’m not going to lie–when they were making the decision,” Smith said. “I was like ‘Man, I hope we got it–I’m pretty sure we got it when the flag came out and I saw the lights come on… They only thing I didn’t know was if they took it all the way to the stripe.

“I don’t know if it’s vindication or not. I think I’d gotten over that and gotten past that, but I definitely wanted to win here … but you want to win every week, and it definitely helps wipe that bad memory away of sitting on pit road and finding out you’re 18th instead. So, yeah, that was kind of cool.”

Smith took over the series lead, by 27 points over Sam Hornish Jr. in a race whose start was delayed three hours because of rain. It’s the first time JR Motorsports has led the Nationwide Series standings. It was also the first victory as a crew chief for Greg Ives.

Kahne was surprised NASCAR called the final caution instead of letting the race play out to conclusion.

“I think there’s been plenty of times (when) there’ve been wrecks in (Turn) 4 or 3, and we’ve just raced to the line at the end,” Kahne said. “As soon as they started wrecking, I saw the caution. I still raced to the line, and we had a good enough run to get there and be first there, but I was surprised the caution came out.

“I knew I was third when the caution came out, and I knew I was first at the line… My spotter after the race was like, ‘I think we won,’ but I was thinking the whole time, ‘There’s no way. The caution was out.’”

Busch was leading on Lap 93 when contact between Hornish’s Ford and Eric McClure’s Toyota ignited a spectacular 12-car wreck that sidelined the series leader entering the race (Hornish), among others.

NASCAR then opted to shorten the race by 10 laps because of impending darkness, but four laps after a restart on Lap 101, Joey Coulter’s contact with the outside wall caused the sixth caution and set up the two-lap dash to the finish.

On Lap 14, Danica Patrick spun off the bumper of series rookie Kyle Larson, her Turner Scott Motorsports teammate-for-a-day and slid though the waterlogged infield grass, damaging her No. 34 Chevrolet extensively. After losing a lap on pit road, Patrick brought the car to the garage and called it a day.

Patrick, hardly a grizzled veteran herself, attributed the wreck to Larson’s inexperience with the tandem racing that characterizes the Nationwide Series at restrictor-plate tracks. Larson, who was attempting to push Patrick’s car when the wreck occurred, found trouble of his own on Lap 35, when he blew a tire, spun and took Jeffrey Earnhardt’s Ford with him.

The hardest hit of the race, however, came on Lap 71 when pole sitter Travis Pastrana nosed into the outside backstretch wall during a three-car incident that started when Brian Scott turned the Ford of Reed Sorenson.

Sorenson hit the outside wall and spun back across the track into Pastrana’s path. Pastrana blamed himself for being in harm’s way and for not reacting quickly enough when he saw Sorenson spin.

“I just get an award for being stupid,” Pastrana said after leaving the infield care center. “We had the two fastest cars on the track (with Roush Fenway Racing teammate Trevor Bayne). We could have been a half-lap down just pushing each other, not worrying about anything.

“We all said we were going to sit back the whole race, and then, all of sudden, we’re up there racing just like a bunch of fools up front… Everything kind of happened.”

Harvick beat Clint Bowyer to the finish line by .343 seconds to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season, his second at Richmond and the 20th of his career.

Joey Logano ran third, Juan Pablo Montoya came home fourth after leading until the final caution, and Jeff Burton finished fifth after staying out on old tires for the final two-lap run that took the event six laps beyond its posted distance.

Harvick came to pit road for tires on Lap 396, after Brian Vickers’ slapped the Turn 3 wall to cause the 11th caution of the race. Harvick’s No. 29 Richard Childress racing Chevrolet made short work of three drivers who had stayed out after the race restarted on lap 405.

Though he lost the chance to break a 94-race drought since his Cup victory at Watkins Glen in August 2010, Montoya was elated just to get a top-five finish after struggling mightily for more than a year.

Not so elated were Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart, who repeatedly swapped shots with their Chevys on the cool-down lap. Stewart was fifth on the final restart but dropped to 18th at the finish after Busch rubbed him out of the racing groove during a two-lap free-for-all that saw prolific contact throughout the field.

Harvick, however was all smiles when he climbed out of his car in Victory Lane.

“My car launched, and I was able to drive it in the first corner and hope for the best down there,” said Harvick, who surged into the lead through Turns 3 and 4 after establishing his position in the first corner on the final restart. “I figured four, eight, 12…how many ever tires that were on the outside of me would be better than none. It all worked out, and here we are.”

The decision to come to pit road for tires under the final caution was a no-brainer, as Harvick and crew chief Gil Martin saw it.

“When the tires fall off almost two seconds, you’ve got to come in and get tires,” he said. “There’s not very many guys that stayed out. It all worked out tonight. We’ve been on the other side of it this year, so to be in Victory Lane is great.”

Bowyer led 113 laps but didn’t have a car that could stay with Harvick at the end.

“We had a good car—we just didn’t have a great car,” Bowyer said. “It seemed like we were just too tight on the throttle. It would quite turn and come up off (the corner). It really got wild there at the end. I was just lucky enough to be on the bottom (for the final restart).

“They started making holes up there in front of me, and the seas parted, and I just followed suit behind Harvick. It was a good run.”

What remained a two-man battle for more than half the race evolved into an unpredictable nexus of varying strategy and unexpected attrition.

When Kyle Busch passed Matt Kenseth for the top spot on Lap 254, that was the first time all evening that a driver other than Kenseth or Bowyer had led a lap. Busch made it stick, leading 39 straight laps under green until Travis Kvapil smacked the wall on Lap 292 to cause the sixth caution of the night.

But brother Kurt Busch won the race off pit road under the yellow and led the field to a restart on Lap 299. Busch held the point during an intense battle against Carl Edwards until NASCAR called the seventh caution on Lap 308 when Kvapil’s car dropped fluid on the track.

Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kenseth and Ryan Newman stayed out under the yellow on 16-lap-old tires. Jimmie Johnson paced the rest of the lead-lap cars to pit road and took two tires. Six laps after a restart on Lap 321, the entire tenor of the race changed dramatically.

After contact with Martin Truex Jr.’s Toyota on the restart, Johnson faded on the restart. Running to the inside of Johnson on entering Turn 1 on Lap 327, Tony Stewart slid sideways into Johnson’s Chevrolet. As Johnson slid to the inside of the track in Turn 2, Kyle Busch’s Toyota nosed into him.

That was just the start of frenetic action at the .75-mile high-speed short track. Montoya led a pack of six cars who stayed out under the caution to a restart on Lap 334, but on Lap 338, a brutal wreck off Turn 2 involving Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers slowed the field again.

One lap after a restart on Lap 344, Truex spun in Turn 3 while battling Kurt Busch in close quarters for the second position. Montoya retained the lead until Brian Vickers’ wreck on Lap 395 set up the overtime.

Notes: Despite Johnson’s troubles, the five-time champion gained ground on his closest pursuers in the standings with a 12th-place finish at RIR. He now leads second-place Carl Edwards (sixth Saturday) by 43 points and Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th at Richmond) by 46… Reigning Cup champion Brad Keselowski finished 33rd on the bottom end of a roller-coaster day that saw him recover from a scrape with the turn 2 wall only to drop a cylinder in the late going.

Unfortunately I won’t be racing this weekend at Richmond. It kills me to not be in the car for my team and… twitpl.us/t/9JT

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 24, 2013

Hamlin had hoped to be back in the car at Richmond.

Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano got together while racing for the win in the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Hamlin’s car made hard contact with the inside wall.

Tests revelealed a fractured L1 vertebra that could sideline Hamlin for up to six weeks. Mark Martin and Brian Vickers have filled in for Hamlin in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 Toyota.

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Both teams were found to be in violation of  Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-12 (all suspension systems and components must be approved by NASCAR. Prior to being used in competition, all suspension systems and components must be submitted, in a completed form/assembly, to the office of the NASCAR Competition Administrator for consideration of approval and approved by NASCAR. Each such part may thereafter be used until NASCAR determines that such part is no longer eligible. All suspension fasteners and mounting hardware must be made of solid magnetic steel. All front end and rear end suspension mounts with mounting hardware assembled must have single round mounting holes that are the correct size for the fastener being used. All front end and rear end suspension mounts and mounting hardware must not allow movement or realignment of any suspension component beyond normal rotation or suspension travel.) of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book.

As a result of the penalties, crew chief of the No. 2 team Paul Wolfe has been fined $100,000 and suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race) and placed on probation until Dec. 31.

Car chief Jerry Kelley, team engineer Brian Wilson and team manager Travis Geisler (serves as team manager for both Penske cars) have been suspended from NASCAR for the next six Cup races (including the All-Star Race) and placed on probation until the end of the calendar year.

Brad Keselowski has been penalized with the loss of 25 driver’s points, and Roger Penske has been docked 25 owner’s points.

Todd Gordon, crew chief of the No. 22 car, received the same penalty as Wolfe.

Car chief Raymond Fox and team engineer Samuel Stanley received the same penalties as Kelley, Wilson, and Giesler.

Joey Logano was docked 25 driver’s championship points, and Penske lost 25 owner’s points.

Penske plans to appeal the penalties. Penske posted on its Facebook page:

Penske Racing received communication today from NASCAR regarding penalties they have issued against the [Nos. 2 and 22] teams. Penske Racing will appeal utilizing the appropriate NASCAR process. We have no further comment at this time.

Update: The National Car Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel upheld the penalties issued to Penske Racing for violations found before the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

After hearing testimony from Penske officials and carefully reviewing the facts, the appeals panel reached a unanimous decision.

Penske will now appeal to National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook.

Penske Racing owner Roger Penske said:

Obviously, we’re disappointed with the outcome. We met with the panel for over four or five hours. It was a good process. I feel we have a good case, and as we are allowed to under the NASCAR rules we will appeal to the next level. I can’t make any [further] comment. It’s clear we have a process. That’s why I’m better off to wait and see that conclude, and at that point I can make any other personal comments.

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NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said:

We’re taking (rear-end) housing and some other things. & It’s a group of pieces that surrounds the rear suspension area. It’s just something that is not in the spirit of the rules.

Both Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were allowed to keep their crew chiefs and starting spots for the race.

Travis Geisler, Penske’s director of competition, addressed the confiscation:

In pre-race inspection they felt like there was something that was a questionable item that they wanted replaced. We replaced all the parts in question. They have them all. We’re working through the process here as it goes to get through inspection. Unfortunately a little tighter timeline here than we’d like to be on, but I certainly understand their position and don’t disagree with where they are.

He was wrong, as he held off a furious late-race charge by Joey Logano to earn the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series of his career in a green-white-checkered finish. Logano, a NASCAR Sprint Cup regular who had much fresher tires on his truck, had to settle for finishing second after spinning his tires on the final restart and permitting Larson to slip away.

“I was pretty nervous on that last restart because Joey was on a lot newer tires than me, and I’m not normally the best on restarts. But I was able to beat him into (Turn 1) and then hold him off for the win,” said Larson, the first Drive for Diversity graduate to reach Victory Lane in one of NASCAR’s three national touring series.

Larson, 20, won in only his fifth career start in the Truck Series and clearly had the fastest truck in the field all day, leading 187 of the race’s 200 laps.

“It’s not often that you get to drive a car that dominant, so I know you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Larson said.

Logano did not make it easy, as saving a set of fresh sticker tires for the end of the race nearly paid off for him.  The only Sprint Cup driver in the field, Logano arrived at the track in time to qualify seventh after racing at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night and finishing fifth in the Cup race there. His pit crew dropped the jack prematurely on his first pit stop, costing him track position, but he rallied from there and bided his time until he could get the set of tires he needed to make his run toward the front.

Logano was one of only two drivers whose teams saved a set of sticker tires for the end of the race, with defending series champion James Buescher being the other. Logano actually fell one lap down before the fifth caution came out and afforded him the chance to pit for the fresh tires. He subsequently restarted in 18th and nearly got caught up in a wreck when Todd Bodine spun in front of him, but then began a frenzied, determined charge through the field over the final 20 laps.

It took Logano just six laps to gain 11 spots, and by Lap 193, with seven laps remaining, he was riding in second and right on Larson’s bumper. But after an accident involving Timothy Peters brought out the final caution, Larson beat Logano on the green-white-checkered restart and then held him off for the win.

“I was passing a ton of cars on the newer tires,” Logano said. “That’s Rockingham for you. That’s what makes this race track so cool, because you can play a strategy like that. When we got the last caution, I thought it was playing out perfect for us.

“I just got beat (on the restart). I spun my tires, so it was all my fault. I was so mad at myself. I felt like we should have won this race. We might not have had the truck to win, but we had the strategy to win.”

Johnny Sauter, who was attempting to make history by becoming the first driver to win three consecutive races at the start of a Truck Series season, qualified 11th and ran as high as second before settling for a fourth-place finish. Brendan Gaughan finished third behind Larson and Logano, and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.

Gaughan and Sauter provided much of the mid-race entertainment after a poor pit stop forced Sauter back to 10th. From there, Sauter worked his way back toward the front, passing ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton for third after a spirited battle on Lap 154.

Then Sauter set his sights on Gaughan’s truck. But as Sauter and Gaughan battled lap after lap for second as the laps wound down, Larson began pulling away from them and the rest of the pack.  Two late cautions bunched up the field again, and allowed Logano the opportunity he needed to get fresh tires on his truck, setting up the duel at the finish.

Sauter maintained his lead in the series standings by 16 points over rookie Jeb Burton, who won the pole during Sunday morning qualifying and finished seventh in the race.

If truth be known, Busch started the process on Friday afternoon and applied the coup de grace with 20 laps left on Saturday evening.

Yes, Busch capped a perfect weekend when he took the checkered flag .508 seconds ahead of runner-up Martin Truex Jr. But Busch’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Texas, his second of the season and the 26th of his career started with a pole-winning run on Friday that afforded him the luxury of picking the No. 1 pit stall.

At the race’s crucial juncture, under the final caution for debris in Turn 4, Busch used a lightning-fast pit stop and the pit stall position closest to the exit from pit road to grab the top spot for the final restart. Truex restarted on the outside and struggled to maintain contact with the race winner.

Though he gained ground in the closing laps, Truex ran out of time.

Carl Edwards was third, followed by Greg Biffle and Joey Logano, who barely made the starting grid and rallied for an unexpected top five.

Busch, who won Friday night’s Nationwide Series race after claiming the pole, finished off the seventh Nationwide/Cup sweep of his career, a NASCAR record–and all because of the final pit stop.

“It feels good–oh, man,” Busch exulted after climbing from his car. “(Crew chief) Dave Rogers and these guys gave me a great piece today. We ran up front all day long. But if it wasn’t for my pit crew, the most awesome group ever–since 2008 we’ve been together, haven’t had any changeover–man, those guys are just awesome.

“They pulled out one heck of a stop right there at the end to put us up front, to give us that lead, and we were able to bring it home.”

Busch led a race-high 171 laps to 142 for Truex, who was beyond disappointed with the second-place result.

“We started near the front and had a decent car at the beginning, but not great,” Truex said. “We worked on it all night and got it to where it was the best car out there. The last caution came out, and we got beat out of the pits, and that was the race. It was pretty frustrating to run second again. I feel like we’ve been in this boat and this position a bunch of times.

“Nothing about it is much fun. At the same time, it was a good run for us. We had a great weekend. Had a good race car all weekend long, and we learned a lot about things we can use in the future. Just running second sucks, especially when you’re that fast. So (I’m) a little bit frustrated right now.”

Nor would Truex use Busch’s No. 1 pit stall as an excuse.

“We came in with the lead,” Truex said. “I still feel like we should have been able to beat him out. I don’t know what happened there, but it wasn’t even close. I was three (car-lengths) behind, so it wasn’t all pit position, it was other things on our end…

“It’s so hard to get in position to win these races. It is so hard to make your car good enough to beat Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch and all these guys; and we had that tonight. We’ve got to get better at taking advantage of that. That’s where we’re missing, and that’s what we need to work on. So that’s why I’m upset. Second is a great accomplishment, but it’s not what we’re here for.”

Truex streaked away from the field after a restart on lap 229 and opened a lead of more than 2.5 seconds over Busch. That advantage grew to more than four seconds before a worn-out right front tire threatened Truex’s winning chances.

As Truex brought his No. 56 Toyota to pit road under green on Lap 280, however, David Gilliland turned Marcos Ambrose’s Ford on the backstretch to cause the sixth caution of the night. As the yellow flew, Jeff Burton ran into the back of Mark Martin’s Toyota and spun into the inside wall.

Since both Truex and Busch were already on pit road when NASCAR called the caution, they remained in the lead for a restart on Lap 291. Truex opened a lead once again before a Lap 314 caution for debris in Turn 4 slowed the field again and allowed the lead-lap cars to pit for four tires.

Busch won the race off pit road, and that proved decisive, as he sped away after a restart on Lap 319 and made a bridesmaid of Truex for the sixth time since his only Sprint Cup victory on June 4, 2007.

Trouble started early for the Penske Racing Fords of reigning series champion Brad Keselowski and Logano. NASCAR confiscated the rear-end housings of the cars, forcing the teams to make a change before the race.

Keselowski made it to the grid in time for the start, but Logano’s car was late presenting itself on pit road and had to start from the rear.

“It is just something that is not in the spirit of the rules,” NASCAR vice president of competition told the Sporting News in explaining the violation. If penalties are forthcoming, they will be announced next week.

Nevertheless, both drivers rallied from a lap to down to post top-10 finishes. Keselowski came home ninth and remained second in the Cup standings, nine points behind Jimmie Johnson, who ran sixth on Saturday.

JGR President JD Gibbs said:

We’ve been real fortunate to have never been in this situation with the need to find someone to fill in for an injured driver. A lot goes into a decision like this but we are really pleased to have someone of the character and caliber of Mark Martin to fill in while Denny is out. Obviously we’re not exactly sure how long that is going to take, but Mark’s career speaks for itself and our team knows it will have the opportunity to compete for a win every week.

Martin, who currently shares the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota with Brian Vickers, will take over driving duties in the STP Gas Booster 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

Martin said:

I’m happy to have this opportunity to help out JGR, FedEx and Denny. Hopefully I can keep those guys up front and compete for wins while Denny heals up.

Vickers is expected to drive the No. 55 while Martin fills in for Hamlin.

Update: Martin will only fill in for Hamlin at Martinsville. He will return to the No. 55 in the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Vickers will then drive the No. 11.

J D Gibbs said:

Obviously having to find someone to fill in for Denny is not an ideal situation to have to be in and when you start a process like this you obviously begin to look at the drivers that are not only available but also able to drive for your race team and manufacturer. We were a bit premature in determining Mark’s status past Martinsville however. We’re real happy to have the opportunity to get Brian in our Cup cars and with him driving Nationwide for us we think we have some continuity there that is beneficial.

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Hamlin was able to climb out of the car on his own, but he immediately went down. He was airlifted to local hospital for observation. He spent the night at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Hamlin was diagnosed with a fractured L1 vertebra.

He was released on Monday — and walked out of the hospital under his own power — and was allowed to fly home.

Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates evaluated Hamlin. Joe Gibbs Racing issued the following statement on its Facebook page:

Dr. Petty determined that Hamlin will not require surgery, but will need time to properly heal, which is estimated around six weeks time. Dr. Petty will make the determination when Hamlin will be able to return to racing this season. No decision has been made on a replacement driver for Hamlin during his absence from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

This news effectively ends Hamlin’s chances to win the Sprint Cup Series championship.

After his release from the hospital, Hamlin said he knew he was in trouble because he felt his back pop after the violent collision. He said he couldn’t breathe and is still having difficulty breathing.

Hamlin said that Logano has not reached out to him. He added that he made sure to give Logano plenty of room. But, he said:

I think he saw I was going to win and wasn’t going to let that happen.

For his part, Logano said:

I just thought we were racing hard, you know? It happens. You don’t ever want anyone to get hurt; you don’t ever want anything to happen, especially to Denny. We were racing really hard there at the end of the race. I wish there was a SAFER barrier down there, and I wish I knew before I made any comments on TV also.

Following the race Logano said:

He probably shouldn’t have done what he did last week (at Bristol), so that’s what he gets.

He later said he didn’t try to wreck Hamlin in “any way, shape, or form.”

Kerry Tharp, NASCAR Director of Communications, tweeted that “NASCAR will issue no penalties from last weekend’s events at [Auto Club Speedway].

While no announcement has been made as to a replacement, Elliott Sadler, who drives for JGR in the Nationwide Series, seems like a logical choice to replace Hamlin.

Yes, it was Busch’s 25th victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Yes, Busch broke a 31-race drought. Yes, Busch gave Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota their first victory at Auto Club Speedway.

Yes, race runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves California with the Cup series lead, 12 points ahead of 23rd-place finisher Brad Keselowski.

But it was the banging between polesitter Hamlin and Logano — the renewal of a feud that started last Sunday in Bristol — as well as an angry confrontation between Stewart and Logano on pit road that stole attention from Busch’s milestone win. Stewart took umbrage at a block by Logano on the final restart with 11 laps left in the 200-lap event.

“I did win the race today,” Busch quipped. “That might be a story… They (Hamlin and Logano) were so focused on each other that they left the door open.”

His momentum broken by the block, Stewart fell through the field and finished 22nd. Earnhardt was second when caution froze the field on the final lap. Logano was credited with third, followed by Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch, who overcame a brush with the wall and a pit road penalty to post his second straight top five.

Hamlin nosed hard into the inside wall and was credited with a 25th-place finish. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota was airlifted to a local hospital as a precautionary measure. A helicopter was used because of heavy post-race traffic outside the speedway.

As Logano put it later, the driver of the No. 22 Penske Racing Ford was simply trying to do whatever was necessary to win the race. That applied both to the block of Stewart and the battle with Hamlin.

“Racing for the lead — going for the win,” Logano said. “That’s what you’ve got to do… Tony was just upset about a restart, that I was racing him really hard on the bottom trying to make sure I protected my spot. What I was doing actually was I was racing the 18 (Kyle Busch) on the restart and he was spinning his tires.

“The rule is you can’t beat him to the start finish line, so I am pedaling it which gave Tony the run to go underneath me. I wanted to block that because I knew, if he put me three-wide, that would be the end of my race and I wouldn’t win. I was smart enough to realize that. Then I had to just do what I had to do to get to the front and try to win the race.”

Stewart had a substantially different view of the incident.

“For a guy that’s been complaining about how everyone else is driving here, and him to do that, it’s a double standard,” Stewart said. “He makes the choice. He makes the decision to run us down there (to the apron), and when you run a driver down there, you take responsibility for what happens after that.

“He’s a tough guy on pit road, as soon as one of his crew guys gets in the middle of it. Until then, he’s a scared little kid.”

A caution on lap 170 for Marcos Ambrose’s blown left-rear tire followed almost immediately a round of green-flag pit stops and wiped out Busch’s five-second lead over Harvick. That set up a restart on Lap 175 with Busch on the outside and Harvick beside him in the inside lane.

Harvick, however, failed to launch on the restart, allowing Kahne to move into second with Stewart behind him. One lap later, Mark Martin’s spin off Turn 2 brought out the seventh caution and bunched the field for a restart on Lap 181.

Kyle Busch pulled away once again, but the engine in Clint Bowyer’s Toyota exploded on Lap 185, giving cars running ninth on back a chance to pit for fresh tires in hopes of gaining ground on a final charge to the finish.

Kyle Busch paced the field to a restart on Lap 190 with Logano beside him, despite overheating issues that threatened his chances for a strong finish. Stewart was third and Kurt Busch fourth when the field took the green.

Stewart was the biggest loser on the restart, thanks to the block Logano threw on the No. 14 car as the field stormed through Turn 1. Logano got the better of Kyle Busch on lap 194, as Hamlin streaked through the field on fresh tires to move into second.

Just past the finish line on Lap 199, Hamlin moved to the outside of Logano, and the drivers banged doors repeatedly until the contact sent Hamlin spinning and Logano into the outside wall, allowing Kyle Busch to steal the win.