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 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. Busch also spoiled Jimmie Johnson’s attempt for a third consecutive victory. Johnson, who won at California and Las Vegas, finished 12th.
“I felt like this year’s battle was much tougher with the competition than last year,” Busch said. “But it’s just because the tires changed a little bit, aerodynamics changed a little bit.
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. MiamiHerald.com
A.J. Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Scott Speed completed the top 10. NASCAR
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 2 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 3 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 4 9 Kasey Kahne Ford 5 98 Paul Menard Ford 6 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 7 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 8 16 Greg Biffle Ford 9 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 10 82 Scott Speed Toyota 11 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 13 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 14 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 16 21 Bill Elliott Ford 17 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 18 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 19 19 Elliott Sadler Ford 20 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 21 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 22 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 23 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 24 36 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 25 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 26 38 David Gilliland Ford 27 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 28 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 29 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 30 34 Travis Kvapil Ford 31 37 Kevin Conway * Ford 32 26 Boris Said Ford 33 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 34 13 Max Papis Toyota 35 20 Joey Logano Toyota 36 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge 37 6 David Ragan Ford 38 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 39 99 Carl Edwards Ford 40 0 David Reutimann Toyota 41 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 42 55 Michael McDowell Toyota 43 7 Robby Gordon Toyota
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