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[/media-credit]Kyle Busch pushed Tony Stewart to the lead in the final laps of Saturday night’s exhibition Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Then Busch ducked to the outside of Stewart as they headed to the finish line. Busch edged Stewart by .013 seconds to win the 2012 Budweiser Shootout.
Busch drove and incredible race with two spectacular saves to stay in contention to win the race. “I don’t know how many times I spun out, but I didn’t spin out, you know?” Busch said in victory lane.
The final save from Busch came after contact from Jeff Gordon. Busch spun on the inside while Gordon went high and into 3-wide traffic. Gordon slid on his side for approximately 1,000 feet before barrel-rolling to a stop on his roof. While upside down, Gordon climbed out the window and said this was the first time in his career he’d been on his roof. Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray are also involved.
The 75-lap race was marred by two big accidents after it appears the big pack racing is back and NASCAR has successfully split up the two-car tandem racing.
The first big one came out on lap 9 in turns 1 and 2. Michael Waltrip, Paul Menard, Mark Martin, David Ragan, Matt Kenseth, Juan Montoya and several others were involved.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Budweiser Shootout, February 18, 2012 – Exhibition
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 2 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 3 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 82 | Running |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 6 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 7 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 8 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 9 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 10 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 11 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 12 | 22 | A.J. Allmendinger | Dodge | 80 | Running |
| 13 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 79 | Running |
| 14 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 75 | Running |
| 15 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 73 | Running |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 73 | In Pit |
| 17 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 73 | Running |
| 18 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 54 | In Pit |
| 19 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 54 | Running |
| 20 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 54 | Running |
| 21 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 54 | Running |
| 22 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 54 | In Pit |
| 23 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 8 | In Pit |
| 24 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 8 | Running |
| 25 | 140 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | 8 | Running |
