The main excitement was over second place in the closing laps as Stewart, Biffle and Earnhardt Jr all got involved. Biffle held it until the final two laps before both Stewart and Earnhardt Jr eased their way through to take second and third. Despite finishing on the podium' both Stewart and Dale Jr had plenty of harsh words for Goodyear at the end of the race.
Biffle took fourth to salvage some pride for Roush-Fenway Racing while Gordon, Bowyer, Harvick, the recovering Kenseth, the outstanding Brian Vickers and Jeff Burton completed the top ten.
Like Kenseth Kyle's elder brother Kurt Busch had to take advantage of the lucky dog free pass rule to take eleventh place at the flag with six-times Atlanta winner Bobby Labonte 12th and Johnson completing the list of unlapped runners in 13th.
Ryan Newman was 14th for Penske Racing after a precautionary green flag pitstop to cure a tyre rub while Denny Hamlin ended up 15th with no power steering. Juan Montoya took another top 20 finish as he crossed the line in 16th place for Ganassi Racing while Martin Truex Jr looked like a solid contender until a pit lane speeding violation dropped him back to 21st, two laps down.
Sam Hornish Jr was the leading rookie home; two laps behind Busch in 25th position while Dario Franchitti had another tough afternoon and was 33rd, four laps off the pace.
Only Edwards and Sadler failed to finish leaving 41 cars still circulating at the end but such were the track conditions that the final seven finishers were all at least five laps behind despite suffering no mechanical or accident related delays.
Next weekend there should be no such problems for the drivers or teams as they travel to the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway for some good old fashioned short track racing.
![Kyle Busch wins the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta [Pic Credit image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/416212.jpg)
