Edwards would take the restart ahead of Johnson, Busch, Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin and Kenseth with Clint Bowyer, the first driver to take fresh rubber, in sixth and Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin and defending Samsung 500 winner Jeff Burton completing the list of unlapped runners.
On worn tyres Edwards' main concern was spinning the rears when the green flag waved but his restart was impeccable, pulling clear of Johnson by the time the field reached turn one. The main excitement was for the minor places as Edwards reeled off the final three miles to further prove his intermediate track prowess and ensure that Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports team continues their winless start to 2008.
Johnson was by no means upset with second place after running in and around the top five all day in an event characterised by few cautions and several lengthy green flag runs that resulted in all bar the top 18 finishers finishing at least two laps off the pace.
Kyle Busch, who conceded the lead to Edwards on lap 214, held on to third place with Newman, who spent much of the race fighting to stay on the lead lap, taking advantage of a final corner clash between Hamlin and Bowyer, to snatch fourth.
Hamlin was classified fifth after Bowyer appeared to drift up into the front of his #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota coming off turn four for the final time with Burton sixth, Stewart seventh, Martin eighth, Kenseth ninth and Bowyer the last driver classified on the lead lap in tenth position.
In what is becoming an increasingly common occurrence at the faster tracks on the Sprint Cup tour very few of the drivers had anything good to say about the way their cars handled with virtually everyone outside the top ten telling a tale of woe in the battle to get their cars to run smoothly through the turns.
![Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards in Atlanta. [Pic Credit image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/416208.jpg)
