Carl Edwards dominated an incident packed race to take his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win of 2016 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The polesitting Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 276 of the 500 laps and held off a brilliant recovery from Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Hendrick Motorsports man Earnhardt fought back from two laps down to finish second after a battery issue ruined his start.
His challenge for the lead at the final restart was disrupted by pressure from Stewart-Haas’s Kurt Busch, and their squabble allowed Edwards to cruise to victory.
Busch also had to come from the back having been trapped behind Earnhardt as his car faltered at the start.
Their fightbacks were just two of many in the field.
Hendrick rookie Chase Elliott also came from two laps down to finish fourth, tyre vibrations having meant a precautionary stop under green.
Roush Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne rounded out the top five.
There were 15 cautions through the afternoon and at one stage there were doubts over Edwards’ Toyota as his JGR team-mates suffered identical race ruining incidents.
Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch both retired after they each suffered two tyre failures.
The pair had looked strong in the first half of the race and Kenseth led 142 laps, but after their second respective incidents the team decided to retire both cars.
Team-mate Denny Hamlin was slightly luckier to finish 20th after the same problem put him a lap down late on.
Penske’s Joey Logano looked set for a top three finish despite earlier losing two laps with tyre vibrations, but his recovery drive was halted at the 13th restart when he suffered a similar battery issue to Earnhardt and he could only finish 10th.
Pitlane speeding penalties for Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson early on put the pair a lap down and contact in the latter stages stifled their progress back through the field as they finished 18th and 23rd respectively.
