NASCAR's big packs are back

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

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 close.

He was officially 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 put on reserve for later.”

It was clear from the beginning of Saturday night's Shootout, much of the two-car drafting that dominated the restrictor-plate racing last season in the Sprint Cup Series was gone, or at least greatly 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 fell victim early, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano.

Kyle Busch was one of eight drivers 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 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.”

Even with the multicar wrecks, drivers from Stewart and Busch to Earnhardt Jr. and even Gordon – whose car wound up on its roof – were emphatic in their preference to Saturday night's racing over the two-car drafting of last season.

Was the racing more difficult? Yes. Was there the potential of bigger wrecks than last season? Yes. Yet Earnhardt summed up the situation quite succinctly.

“You just hold your damn car where it needs to be and not drive around like an idiot,” he said.