Biffle opens Chase with late pass to earn NHMS victory (cont'd)

"We'd been very, very strong all day long," said Johnson, who led 96 of the 300 laps at the 1.058-mile flat track. The short runs were what hurt me the most. ... I felt a little vulnerable, and sure enough, he got by. I was inching back up to him, but I just didn't have enough laps at the end there."

Edwards, who had suffered though two miserable days of practice, was elated by his third-place finish.

"That's why it sounds like I'm in Victory Lane -- I'm pumped," Edwards said after climbing from the car. "It just wasn't any good in practice. [Crew chief] Bob Osborne, he did a great job coming up with a setup for us -- springs, shocks, track bar, front bar, all that stuff. He showed me the sheet this morning, and I said, 'Man, I hope it works.' And it did."

If Edwards' run was better than he thought it might be, Busch's first race as the top seed in the Chase was a nightmare.

By Lap 16, Busch's No. 18 Toyota had begun to fade badly because of a broken sway bar. When NASCAR called a competition caution on Lap 35, Busch passed the pace car on the way to his pit stall and was held in the pits for a one-lap penalty (watch video).

He lost another lap on the track, before a spin off Turn 2 on Lap 83 and a subsequent collision with Jamie McMurray's Ford cost him another six laps in the garage while his car was being repaired (watch video).

Notes: Matt Kenseth was the only Chase driver victimized by a Lap 229 crash that involved seven other cars (watch video). Seeded 12th in the Chase entering Sunday's race, Kenseth suffered his first DNF of the season, finished 40th and fell 177 points behind Edwards and Johnson. ... Tony Stewart overcame two problems in the pits, recovered a lost lap and finished eighth to gain one position to seventh in the Chase standings. He's 73 points out of first place. ... Joey Logano finished 32nd in his Cup debut, three laps down.