DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Let 'em boo. It just might make Kyle Busch go faster.

Greeted with a thundering chorus of boos before the race by the pro-Earnhardt crowd at the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway, Busch brushed it off and dusted the field to win his third NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the season.

Busch rallied to the win, coming from midpack after a lug nut problem before the halfway point. He regrouped and cut through the field. The performance also helped Busch retain his points lead with the series heading into the all-star race next week at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Even after he led a race-high 169 laps, Busch emerged to catcalls when he climbed from his car in Victory Lane. Many fans were still upset about his late-race bump with Dale Earnhardt Jr. last week at Richmond when they raced for the lead in the final laps.

"I heard more noise for him [Saturday] than I've ever heard for him," said Jeff Gordon of Busch. "All I can remember when I came into this sport was riding around with Dale Earnhardt [before races] and him getting a lot of boos and cheers and all he cared about was how much noise they made."

Carl Edwards finished second with Gordon, Earnhardt and David Ragan completing the top five. Gordon's run moved him up to 10th in the points -- the first time he's been in the top 10 since Martinsville in late March. Earnhardt said he got what he deserved. Ragan's run pushed him to 12th in the points, the final spot that qualifies for the Chase later this season.

Matt Kenseth, who had not finished better than 38th in the last three races, finished sixth. Denny Hamlin placed seventh with Travis Kvapil eighth. Dave Blaney placed ninth for his first top-10 finish of the season for the Bill Davis Racing team. Jeff Burton took 10th place. Burton continued two streaks. He's run every lap this season and has not finished worse than 13th this season.

While some scraped the wall and slid into it at times, there wasn't the carnage of cars some predicted heading into this race after several cars crashed in practice and qualifying.

Busch was strong early and then fell to 23rd after a dropped lug nut during a caution that came out on lap 141. He worked his way through the field, grabbing the lead again on lap 270.

Busch also raced with Earnhardt at times during the race to the excitement of the crowd, but there was no contact. They gave each other plenty of room on the narrow track.

Other drivers, though, did not have as good of a night.

Pole-sitter Greg Biffle, one of three drivers to take part in two Goodyear tire tests at this track, finished last. He slowed after completing 234 laps and headed to the pits with an engine problem. It wasn't a surprise, as Biffle radioed a few laps earlier that "we're never going to make it."

Biffle, who led 95 laps, also struggled with a loose wheel earlier in the race.

"We know we've got good race cars," Biffle said after exiting the car. "We can't keep the wheels tight. I don't know why. I give it 110 percent as a driver all the time and you just want your equipment to last and be able to win these races. It makes it so hard to swallow when it's self-induced like that."

Kevin Harvick, who entered the race fifth in the points, saw his hopes to win fade when he bounced off the wall on lap 148. He finished 39th.

"I'm sorry guys," Harvick radioed his crew as he headed toward the garage. "Thing just stepped out."

Tony Stewart's race all but ended on the second lap when Elliott Sadler crashed into him, sending Stewart into the turn 1 wall.

"I just made a huge mistake," Sadler said. "I just went too low into turn 1. I was actually trying to give Tony more room, and I just got loose under him and spun up into him. I've never had any problem with Tony. I know he's pretty upset with me right now. It's my fault. I apologize to all his fans."

Stewart finished 21st.