race report.

Byline: AP

Darlington Raceway considers itself something special. Built in 1950, its registered nickname is "Too Tough to Tame.'' Which is preposterous, of course, since David Pearson won 12 poles and 10 races there. The late Dale Earnhardt won nine, and team owners Junior Johnson and Rick Hendrick have fielded 11 Darlington winners each.

And now there's Kyle Busch. At just 23 years old, he led only one lap in three Darlington starts before the Mother's Day weekend Dodge Challenger 500.

Hey, Darlington, tough this: Busch overcame a pit penalty, shook off a handful of wall bangers and rallied from deep in the field to win the 367-lap 500-miler. He and his Toyota led seven times for 169 laps to beat Carl Edwards (Ford), Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Chevrolet) and David Ragan (Ford).

Busch likely would have won anyway, but it got easier when pole winner Greg Biffle retired after leading 95 of the first 234 laps. Biffle, in Fords for Roush Fenway Racing, won Darlington in 2005 and '06 and was up front for much of this race.

"It's really frustrating, but I've become accustomed to expecting it week after week,'' he said after his engine-related DNF. "Something breaks or falls off. I give 110 percent, and you want your equipment to last and be able to win. I can deal with a flat tire or something like that, but it's harder when it's self- induced.''

With Biffle done, Busch led 93 of the final 134 laps, including 82 of the final 83. ...