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Kurt Busch Wins Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, GA - 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.

"I'm just so happy to bring this car home to victory lane," said Busch, who won in the Sprint Cup Series for the 21st time. "With [crew chief] Steve Addington and all of his new ideas, I never knew how we could mesh them together and how soon we were able to do it. We were able to get it right and hit it just perfect with the marks today, even on all the restarts at the end. I just felt we had the car to beat."

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 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.

"People got to have respect for one another, and I have a lot of respect for people's safety," Edwards said. "I wish it wouldn't have gone like it did, but I'm glad he's okay. We'll just go on to race some more, and maybe he and I won't have any more 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. (The Sports Network)

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Kurt Busch Wins Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

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