Tony Stewart bounces back from Saturday morning's problems to win Saturday afternoon's 300, in a thriller

  
Tony Stewart was the center of attention Saturday at Daytona...with the good as well as the bad (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
   Tony Stewart certainly lived up to his nickname Smoke here Saturday, first smoking Goodyear execs with angry comments about a blown tire that force him to a backup car for the Daytona, then rebounding in the afternoon to smoke Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards in winning a thrilling Nationwide 300.
   Stewart led going into the final lap of the 300, driving his first Nationwide event for team owner Rick Hendrick. But Kyle Busch, using a Daytona variation of the old bump-and-run, pushed Stewart through the third and fourth turns, getting Stewart sideways and then trying to slide underneath him.
   But Stewart managed to hold on to his car and then moved low to chop off Busch.
  It was not clear if Busch's pushing Stewart through the corner might be a violation of NASCAR's rule against bump-drafting in the corners here; but Busch was not called to the NASCAR hauler after the race.
  Carl Edwards took second in the melee.