Kyle Busch finishes with a flourish

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It was about as good a start to the 2012 season as NASCAR could hope for.

A dramatic and spectacular return to big pack racing at Daytona International Speedway culminated with a victory from a driver who turned in many dramatic and spectacular performances throughout the night to earn it.

Victory Lane was the last place anyone expected to find Kyle Busch when Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout finally came to a close.

He was listed in one accident, made two spectacular saves to prevent getting caught up in two others and pushed Tony Stewart to the lead only to pass him on the last lap for his first win in the non-points race.

Oh, and he did it all in a backup car, since he wrecked his primary car in a practice session on Friday.

“I don’t know how many times I spun out and didn’t spin out,” Busch said after the race. “This car — it was going to be our Daytona 500 backup car — it’s been through enough that I think it’s going to go home and be put on reserve for later.”

It was clear from the beginning of Saturday night’s Shootout that much of the two-car drafting that dominated the restrictor-plate racing last season in the Sprint Cup Series was gone, or at least curtailed.

While the two-car drafting decreased, the number of wrecks increased — almost all caused by drivers tagging the left-rear bumper of the car in front of them.

Several contenders for the win fell victim early, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano.

Kyle Busch was one of eight cars involved in the final accident on Lap 74 of the scheduled 80-lap race.

“Certainly the car wasn’t the same as what it was when we first started,” Busch said. “That left-front corner is pretty soft right now, being bent up and down a few times.”

Busch was ninth on the restart with two laps remaining, and by the final lap, he and Stewart had separated themselves from the rest of the field. Exiting Turn 4 on the last lap, Busch pulled up alongside Stewart and drag-raced him to the finish line, winning by 0.013 seconds.

Marcos Ambrose finished third, Brad Keselowski fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth.

“I wasn’t going to put myself in a position to wreck myself, but I thought I left enough room to get a little air between us,” Stewart said. “He did a good job. He did exactly what he was supposed to do.”

Late Saturday

Lap length: 2.5 miles

*Reason out:

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 124.096 mph.

Time of Race: 1 hour, 39 minutes, 7 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.013 seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 22 laps.

Lead Changes: 26 among 13 drivers.

Reason out: Johnson, accident; Gordon, accident; McMurray, accident; Busch, accident; Logano, accident; Truex, accident; Earnhardt, accident; Kenseth, accident; Harvick, accident; Menard, accident; Ragan, accident; Waltrip, accident.

Lap Leaders: D.Earnhardt Jr. 1-3; J.McMurray 4; J.Logano 5; K.Harvick 6; D.Earnhardt Jr. 7-15; K.Harvick 16; J.McMurray 17; M.Truex Jr. 18-22; J.McMurray 23-25; J.Gordon 26-27; G.Biffle 28-33; A.Allmendinger 34; G.Biffle 35-36; J.Montoya 37; J.McMurray 38-42; M.Truex Jr. 43-44; J.Johnson 45; K.Harvick 46-47; J.Gordon 48-51; J.McMurray 52; G.Biffle 53-61; J.Gordon 62-71; Ky.Busch 72-73; T.Stewart 74-80; M.Ambrose 81; Ky.Busch 82.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): G.Biffle, 3 times for 17 laps; J.Gordon, 3 times for 16 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 2 times for 12 laps; J.McMurray, 5 times for 11 laps; T.Stewart, 1 time for 7 laps; M.Truex Jr., 2 times for 7 laps; K.Harvick, 3 times for 4 laps; Ky.Busch, 2 times for 3 laps; M.Ambrose, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Montoya, 1 time for 1 lap; A.Allmendinger, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Johnson, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Logano, 1 time for 1 lap.=