Shortly after the restart, another caution came out on Lap 248 for Brian Vickers. Most of the leaders came to pit road but seven drivers stayed out: Gordon, Earnhardt, Johnson, Blaney, Kurt Busch, Edwards, and Kvapil.
Gordon led until Kyle Busch took the lead with 97 laps to go. He had worked his way back to the front after his pit road infraction on Lap 140 of the race.
Busch was the leader when a caution flag came out with 88 laps to go for debris. All the leaders made pit stops with Gordon coming out first.
Gordon's lead would be short lived as Busch passed him with 82 laps remaining. The last caution of the race came out when Hamlin spun off the front bumper of Martin Truex. The leaders came down pit road for their final stops, with Busch holding serve as the leader.
The race stayed green until the checkered flag, with Kyle Busch leading the whole way. Busch dominated the final half of the race after Biffle dropped out. It was Busch's third win of the season and his first at Darlington.
The top ten finishers were Busch, Edwards, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Ragan, Kenseth, Hamlin, Kvapil, Blaney, and Burton. Some notable finishes were Johnson in 13th, Bobby Labonte in 18th, and Tony Stewart in 21st position. Stewart fought all night to correct his handling problems after his lLap 2 crash.
Some impressive runs were made by Dave Blaney and Travis Kvapil to finish in the Top Ten. Both had run in the Top Ten all night long as well as the Top Five at times.
The top 12 in the point standings are Busch, Burton, Earnhardt, Hamlin, Bowyer, Johnson, Edwards, Stewart, Harvick, Gordon, Biffle, and Ragan. These drivers would be in the chase if things ended right now.
Some big name drivers need to step it up if they want to compete for the championship after 26 races. Names such as Kenseth, Newman, Labonte, Truex, Kurt Busch, and Kahne have some work to do.
Darlington is now in the history books and we can all look forward to the All-Star Race in Charlotte, N.C., next weekend.
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