Busch wins Loudon thriller

Busch was the class of the field in the final third of the race, however his and many of his rival's nerves were put to the test in the closing laps with concerns about running out of fuel.

The majority of the field used a caution on lap 210 to take what they thought would be their final stop, albeit knowing that they would be marginal on gasoline at the end of the race's scheduled 300 laps.

However, the race went into a staggering eight laps of overtime to ensure NASCAR's fan-friendly green-white-chequered finish; the caution being initially brought out because Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer crashed into each other on the back straight.

That caution was then extended yet further when Michael Waltrip stopped out on the track after hitting the rear of Robby Gordon behind the pace car.

But the impressive Busch blew these concerns aside and powered away at the final restart to take victory.

Denny Hamlin wasn't so lucky. Instead of challenging Busch for the win, he was passed by a charging Carl Edwards before running out of fuel at the final turn and coasting over the line in sixth. Elliott Sadler also ran out of fuel before the end.

"After my last pitstop I was wondering whether we were going to be ok on fuel, so I radioed to my crew chief Alan," Busch said.

"He said that I was fine but under the final caution he told me to save gas, so I didn't know what to think! But my crew did an awesome job."

The victory moves Busch from eighth to fourth in the points' standing.

"The biggest things about the points is it is so darn close. Yes, we've gone from eighth to fourth today, but next week we could go from fourth to 12th. So I have to keep rolling in the results."

Edwards' well earned second place was enough to move him up one place in the standings to 13th.

Having run out of fuel in late stages twice already this season, Greg Biffle survived the late scare this time to finish third ahead of Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick.

The race was not good for several Chase contenders, however.

On lap 91, reigning Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart was spun into the wall by polesitter Ryan Newman.

Stewart damaged his radiator in the incident, and lost 23 laps while it was repaired. His eventual 37th place finished moved him outside of the Chase spots.

Karma caught up with Newman just four laps later, as he spun and damaged his Dodge on the restart, forcing him to also have a lengthy spell in the pits for repairs to his radiator. He finished 39th, a result that almost certainly puts his out of Chase reckoning for this season.

Teammate Kurt Busch lost ground on making a place in the Chase after David Stremme hit him into the wall. He finished 38th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr lost four spots in the standings, dropping down to seventh after he retired with engine failure.It was his second DNF of the season.

Pos  Driver               Make        Laps
 1.  Kyle Busch           Chevrolet   308
 2.  Carl Edwards         Ford        308
 3.  Greg Biffle          Ford        308
 4.  Mark Martin          Ford        308
 5.  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet   308
 6.  Denny Hamlin         Chevrolet   308
 7.  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet   308
 8.  Kasey Kahne          Dodge       308
 9.  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet   308
10.  Scott Riggs          Dodge       308
11.  David Stremme        Dodge       308
12.  J.J. Yeley           Chevrolet   308
13.  Dave Blaney          Dodge       308
14.  Matt Kenseth         Ford        308
15.  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet   308
16.  Sterling Marlin      Chevrolet   308
17.  Brian Vickers        Chevrolet   308
18.  Martin Truex Jr.     Chevrolet   308
19.  Robby Gordon         Chevrolet   308
20.  Scott Wimmer         Chevrolet   308
21.  Casey Mears          Dodge       308
22.  Tony Raines          Chevrolet   308
23.  Bobby Labonte        Dodge       308
24.  Reed Sorenson        Dodge       308
25.  Elliott Sadler       Ford        307
26.  Jeff Green           Chevrolet   307
27.  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet   307
28.  Kyle Petty           Dodge       306
29.  Jeremy Mayfield      Dodge       306
30.  Kevin Lepage         Dodge       306
31.  Dale Jarrett         Ford        306
32.  Bill Elliott         Chevrolet   305
33.  Jamie McMurray       Ford        303
34.  Ken Schrader         Ford        303
35.  Travis Kvapil        Chevrolet   302
36.  Michael Waltrip      Dodge       300
37.  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet   285
38.  Kurt Busch           Dodge       285
39.  Ryan Newman          Dodge       279
40.  Stanton Barrett      Chevrolet   200
41.  Joe Nemechek         Chevrolet   199
42.  Kenny Wallace        Chevrolet   184
43.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Chevrolet   135