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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The pack is back. And so is the Big One.

Kyle Busch edged Tony Stewart in a thrilling finish of the first race of 2012, using a slingshot pass Saturday night on the last lap of the exhibition Budweiser Shootout to beat the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion to the checkered flag.

It gave Busch a victory in a wild race that saw him use two incredible saves to stay in contention in the 75-lap event at Daytona International Speedway.

"I don't know how many times I spun out, but I didn't spin out, you know?" he said with a smile.

The event was a preview of next weekend's season-opening Daytona 500, and showed NASCAR has successfully broken up the two-car tandem racing that dominated restrictor-plate racing last season.

Fans were overwhelmingly opposed to that style of racing, and NASCAR officials worked hard through the offseason to develop a rules package that would separate the tandems.

It was obvious at the start the new rules worked as the cars were lumped into a big pack and raced two-and-three wide for almost the entire race. Although it led to two big accidents — including one that sent Jeff Gordon skidding on his roof for what he said was the first time in his career — the drivers were nearly unanimous in their approval of the racing.

"I actually had fun racing at Daytona again, which I haven't had for a while," said Stewart, who was beat by .013 seconds to the finish line.

Gordon's accident began when he ran into the back of Busch, who used his second save of the night to avoid the accident.

An earlier save left fellow competitors in awe.

"There aren't many people, ever, who could have done that," said three-time champion Stewart, who was behind Busch on the first save.

Busch shrugged off his saves.

"Stab and steer — that's what you do — and some braking," he said. "There were brakes involved, too."

Greg Biffle of Vancouver, Wash., finished sixth and Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw was 13th in the field of 25.

Note

• Ryan Villopoto of Poulsbo raced to his third straight AMA Supercross victory and fourth in seven rounds this season, edging Ryan Dungey in front of 53,952 fans at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.