A lot of crazy things happened in the Hershey's Kissables 300 in the NASCAR Busch Series at Daytona but when it was all over, Tony Stewart in the #33 Old Spice Chevy was the winner. The finish was set up when most of the field made four tire pit stops on a debris caution with 30 laps left. But leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the #8 Oreo Chevy stayed out. Could Earnhardt hold off the cars with fresher tires? That was answered when Stewart passed Earnhardt for the lead with 13 laps left. When David Reutimann in the #12 Supercuts Dodge cut a tire and hit the wall to bring out a caution with 9 laps left, that set up the big finish. When the green flag came out with 5 laps left, Stewart & Earnhardt ran side by side for the lead. Michael Waltrip in the #99 Aaron's Chevy joined them to make it three wide. Stewart's rookie teammate Burney Lamar in the #77 Dollar General Chevy pushed Stewart to victory. Lamar finished second. There was even a big crash at the finish line triggered by Stacy Compton in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford.
Canadian racer Paul Tracy was doing OK in the #34 Sport Clips Chevy when he was spun out by John Andretti in the #10 Freedom Roads RVs Ford at lap 50. Tracy didn't hit anything but the front valance was damaged when he hit the track apron. He came back out after repairs but the car wasn't handling well and he hit the wall at lap 57. Tracy finished 24th on the lead lap.
NASCAR's response to Tony Stewart's complaints about bump drafting is an attempt to police it by penalizing drivers for aggressive driving. We saw the first implementation of this near the end of today's race when Denny Hamlin in the #20 Rockwell Automation Chevy bump drafted Kyle Busch in the Lowe's/Shop-Vac Chevy into Kasey Kahne in the #9 Ragu Dodge. Hamlin was penalized and was sent to the back of the field for aggressive driving. We'll see what happens with this in tomorrow's Daytona 500.
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