Busch wins last lap showdown

The two drivers had been door-to-door several times during the race, including a dramatic clash on the final lap that saw both skitter over the grass, with Busch rejoining still ahead and escaping for victory.

Polesitter Busch had led comfortably until making the first of his two stops on lap 17. One-stopper Kevin Harvick then picked up the lead during the middle stages, while Busch rapidly made up ground back in the pack.

Eventually after the final pit stop sequence the race came down to a duel between Gordon and Busch, who had already made contact earlier when Gordon barged Busch aside at a restart.

With 12 laps to go, Gordon was ahead, but then Busch lined up an outside line move at the final corner and swept past before Turn 1, although Gordon didn't back down easily.

He then stayed glued to Busch's tail, regularly exploring passing chances, until Todd Kluever stopped on course and caused a very late yellow.

That set up the final showdown, with both drivers using all the track and more as they grappled for victory.

"When we got up there with Robby Gordon, I can't say how much fun it was," said Busch. "It was a hell of a battle - he was trying to drive through us, but I wasn't going to give up."

"He drove a great race," said Gordon. "I sized him up, I stuck the car in there, and he saved it."

Jamie McMurray survived late overheating concerns to take third, ahead of Greg Biffle, who came from the back of the field having incurred a penalty for changing tyres after qualifying - which is not permitted at NASCAR's impound races.

Busch's teammate Ryan Newman held second initially, but retired on lap 29 after a dramatic mechanical failure left his car ablaze - and caused a four-car incident behind as others hit his oil.

Zippo 200 results:

Pos  Driver             Make     Laps
 1.  Kurt Busch         Dodge      83
 2.  Robby Gordon       Chevrolet  83
 3.  Jamie McMurray     Dodge      83
 4.  Greg Biffle        Ford       83
 5.  John Andretti      Ford       83
 6.  Martin Truex Jr.   Chevrolet  83
 7.  Kevin Harvick      Chevrolet  83
 8.  Boris Said         Dodge      83
 9.  Ron Fellows        Chevrolet  83
10.  Scott Pruett       Dodge      83
11.  J.J. Yeley         Chevrolet  83
12.  Denny Hamlin       Chevrolet  83
13.  Michael Waltrip    Dodge      83
14.  Max Papis          Chevrolet  83
15.  David Green        Ford       83
16.  Clint Bowyer       Chevrolet  83
17.  Adrian Fernandez   Chevrolet  83
18.  Paul Menard        Chevrolet  83
19.  Johnny Sauter      Chevrolet  83
20.  Burney Lamar       Chevrolet  83
21.  Auggie Vidovich    Dodge      83
22.  Brian Simo         Chevrolet  83
23.  Regan Smith        Ford       83
24.  Butch Leitzinger   Dodge      83
25.  Danny O'Quinn Jr.  Ford       83
26.  Jay Sauter         Chevrolet  83
27.  Carl Edwards       Ford       82
28.  Reed Sorenson      Dodge      82
29.  Jon Wood           Ford       82
30.  Stacy Compton      Ford       82
31.  Kenny Wallace      Ford       82
32.  Carlos Contreras   Dodge      82
33.  Ashton Lewis       Ford       82
34.  Chris Cook         Dodge      82
35.  Jason Leffler      Chevrolet  82
36.  Stephen Leicht     Ford       82
37.  Kyle Busch         Chevrolet  80
38.  Todd Kluever       Ford       75
39.  Michel Jourdain Jr.Ford       74
40.  Dave Blaney        Chevrolet  40
41.  Ryan Newman        Dodge      29
42.  P.J. Jones         Chevrolet   7