Stewart kicks off '06 with Busch win

Stewart, who is running selected races in the Busch series this year, overtook Dale Earnhardt Jr 12 laps from the end and held onto the position through two restarts following caution periods.

This is his second career Busch race victory, having won the same event last year.

"I'm sorry, I have to say this, but we were really bad to start with," said Stewart. "We got it good and you should have seen the changes we made during the race. We got such a big run together. We had a tight, tight race car to start with.

"I want to see the set-up sheet from where we started and where we finished with it - it will probably scare me. There might have been guys who wouldn't have raced with those changes."

Clint Bowyer slipped past Burney Lamar on the final turn to finish second before a multi-car pile-up started at the final turn, with several drivers spinning over the finish line.

However, the race was declared when the caution period was called, meaning rookie Lamar was awarded second. Jon Wood finished fourth, ahead of Kevin Harvick.

The pile up was triggered when Stacy Compton and Elliott Sadler collided, causing a chain reaction that caught up several cars. The pair were relegated to the back of the lead lap for their part in the incident.

The race had ten caution periods, which is a record for Daytona's February Busch race.

One of the most notable period came when Budweiser Shootout winner Denny Hamlin bump-drafted Kyle Busch on the backstretch, sending Busch into Jamie McMurray. Hamlin was deemed responsible for the accident and was sent to the back of the field before the restart, under NASCAR's new aggressive driving policy.

Another fierce accident took place on the front tri-oval section, when Carl Edwards and Paul Menard got together, which caused a red flag on lap 40.

The accident started when Leffler tapped Edwards, who as a result got loose and hit Menard into the wall. After a number of cars missed the accident, Edwards fell back down the racetrack into the path of AJ Foyt IV. All three cars retired.

Former Champ Car champion Paul Tracy was having a strong run in his first NASCAR Busch race until an accident. The Canadian, starting 37th, had been running as high as ninth, however he was tapped into a spin by experienced Cup driver John Andretti.

Tracy damaged the front and rear end of his Chevrolet. He went into the pits for repairs, losing three laps, but due to the number of caution periods in the race, Tracy was able to use NASCAR's lucky dog pass to get all of his laps back.

John Andretti had his own problems, when a tyre exploded on his Ford and he retired.

Pos  Driver               Make        Laps
 1.  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet   120
 2.  Burney Lamar         Chevrolet   120
 3.  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet   120
 4.  Jon Wood             Ford        120
 5.  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet   120
 6.  Jason Leffler        Chevrolet   120
 7.  Todd Kluever         Ford        120
 8.  J.J. Yeley           Chevrolet   120
 9.  Reed Sorenson        Dodge       120
10.  Mark Green           Dodge       120
11.  Jason Keller         Dodge       120
12.  Ashton Lewis         Ford        120
13.  Kenny Wallace        Ford        120
14.  Denny Hamlin         Chevrolet   120
15.  Michael Waltrip      Dodge       120
16.  Jamie McMurray       Dodge       120
17.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Chevrolet   120
18.  Danny O'Quinn Jr.    Ford        119
19.  Tim Sauter           Chevrolet   120
20.  Tracy Hines          Dodge       120
21.  Steve Grissom        Ford        119
22.  Mark McFarland       Chevrolet   120
23.  Donnie Neuenberger   Chevrolet   120
24.  Paul Tracy           Chevrolet   120
25.  Kyle Busch           Chevrolet   120
26.  Regan Smith          Ford        120
27.  Stacy Compton        Ford        119
28.  Elliott Sadler       Ford        119
29.  David Reutimann      Dodge       111
30.  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet   102
31.  Greg Biffle          Ford        95 
32.  Brian Vickers        Chevrolet   94 
33.  Kasey Kahne          Dodge       94 
34.  John Andretti        Ford        92 
35.  Johnny Sauter        Chevrolet   89 
36.  Ken Schrader         Ford        89 
37.  David Green          Ford        81 
38.  Paul Menard          Chevrolet   78 
39.  Carl Edwards         Ford        65 
40.  Joe Nemechek         Chevrolet   52 
41.  Steadman Marlin      Dodge       50 
42.  A.J. Foyt IV         Dodge       40 
43.  Aaron Fike           Dodge       30