Kurt Busch persevered through tire issues and wrecks to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Two late race cautions made for an exciting finish. The first came after Brad Keselowski received payback from Carl Edwards and ended up hitting the retaining wall with his roof. Edwards ended up in the catch fence last year at Talladega after a nudge from Keselowski sent him flying and the two tangled again multiple times today once only a handful of laps into the event that ended with Edwards in the wall.

After the incident, Edwards made his way up pit road backwards before taking his car to the hauler and eventually ending up in the NASCAR hauler.

The second of the two cautions collected multiple contenders including Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch.

Through it all, the 2004 champion came home victorious in the blue deuce.

“I’m just so happy to bring this car home to Victory lane,” Busch said after his now trademark reverse victory lap. “I’m so excited for this team and all of our associate sponsor right now.”

Tire issues plagued many drivers throughout the day especially the Hendrick Motorsports drivers it seems. Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all had tires go flat during the event. Earnhardt, who was the pole-sitter for the race, managed to get back to the lead lap after being two laps down and ended up 15th.

Keselowski and Edwards ended up 36th and 39th, respectively.

Matt Kenseth finished 2nd with Juan Pablo Montoya finishing 3rd.

It was a great day for Richard Petty Motorsports drivers with Kasey Kahne ending up 4th, Paul Menard in 5th and A.J. Allmendinger in 6th.

Brian Vickers came home 7th, followed by Greg Biffle in 8th, Kevin Harvick in 9th and Vickers’ Red Bull Racing teammate Scott Speed rounding out the top-10.

The Sprint Cup Series drivers will now have a week off as they reground and get ready for some short track racing. They will take on Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21st.

KOBALT TOOLS 500 RESULTS

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