Kyle Busch edged Tony Stewart in a thrilling finish to the first race of 2012, using a slingshot pass Saturday on the last lap of the exhibition Budweiser Shootout to beat the defending NASCAR champion to the checkered flag. Busch made two incredible saves earlier in the race to stay in contention in the wild, 75-lap sprint around Daytona International Speedway. “I don't know how many times I spun out, but I didn't spin out, you know?” said Busch, who gave Toyota its first Shootout victory. The event was a preview of next weekend's season-opening Daytona 500, and showed that NASCAR has successfully broken up the two-car tandem racing that dominated restrictor-plate racing last year. Fans were overwhelmingly opposed to that style of racing — NASCAR said earlier this month that surveys showed over 80 percent of those polled hated the tandem — and the sanctioning body worked hard through the offseason to develop a rules package that would separate the cars. “The pack racing is back, and that gives the drivers a little more control and adds a lot of excitement for the fans — and that's the biggest thing: the fans wanted pack racing back and NASCAR listened and delivered,” said Clint Bowyer, who finished eighth. It was obvious at the start that the new rules worked as the drivers were lumped into a big pack and raced two-and-three wide for almost the entire race. Although it led to two big accidents — including an accident that sent Jeff Gordon skidding on his roof for what he said was the first time in his career — the drivers were nearly unanimous in their approval of the racing change. “I actually had fun racing at Daytona again, which I haven't had for a while,” said Stewart, who was beat by .013 seconds to the finish line. “I don't know what the consensus is from everybody else, but I had more fun as a driver tonight than what we've had in the past.” Dale Earnhardt Jr., a strong critic of the tandem racing, was also thrilled with the new style. The first multi-car accident was a mere nine laps into the race, when David Ragan nudged Paul Menard to trigger a nine-car pileup. A later wreck with two laps remaining sent Gordon sliding on his roof for roughly 1,000 feet. The four-time NASCAR champion climbed out the window with his car still upside down. Gordon's accident began when he ran into the back of Busch, who used his second save of the night to avoid the accident.
