Associated Press

Kurt Busch avoids trouble to score his 21st career Cup Series win in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Any one of several obstacles could have prevented Kurt Busch from winning Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, yet none did in a race that will have many fans awaiting the next race in two weeks at Bristol.

Trouble seemed to collect drivers all day, leaving only survivors. Consider the challenges Busch faced:

n Tire issues plagued several teams, although Goodyear blamed aggressive setups for many of the issues.

n Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards played a game of tag with Edwards' retaliatory shove sending Keselowski's car airborne.

n It took two attempts to finish the race under green, extending the race 16 laps.

n On what was the final restart, Busch lined up next to Juan Pablo Montoya, who also had one of the best cars and was eager to score his first series win since 2007.

When the checkered flag finally waved, it was Busch's blue Dodge that led what was left of a battered and beaten field. Matt Kenseth rallied to finish second with Montoya third. Kasey Kahne, who led a race-high 144 laps, was fourth and Paul Menard fifth.

Overshadowed by all that happened Sunday is how Busch is working with new crew chief Steve Addington. While there's no set time on how long it takes a driver-crew chief combination to work, winning Sunday despite the challenges is a good sign for this team.

Handling was pivotal with Goodyear again bringing a new tire. Atlanta's surface is abrasive and has forced Goodyear to make changes to the tires. Several drivers had tire issues, but Stu Grant, Goodyear's general manager for racing tires, blamed teams and their setups for the problems.

"That's what they always say, right?'' Ryan Newman said. "I guess the drivers should probably slow down and save their tires.''

Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Mark Martin, worked with Goodyear during a tire test at this track in January and backed Goodyear.

"They're trying to get this car to drive good here and I don't think it's going to be possible and have tire durability,'' Gustafson said.

"If the car drives good, then you're going to kill tires. If the tire lives, then you'll be sliding all over the place. I'll stand up behind them and I know they did their due diligence and worked real hard.''

Grant said punctures led to tire failures for Martin, Robby Gordon, Clint Bowyer and David Ragan. Goodyear officials met with NASCAR after the race. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, was satisfied with Goodyear's performance. Whether additional tire testing will be needed before the Labor Day race will be determined later.

In only their fourth race together, Busch and Addington made it through the race with only minimal tire issues.

"With Steve Addington and all his new ideas, I never knew how we could mesh them together and how soon we were able to do it,'' Busch said after his 21st career series victory.

Even with the tire issues solved, Busch still had plenty of work. When Edwards wrecked Keselowski in retaliation for an earlier incident, it forced the race to be extended.

On the ensuing restart, seven cars wrecked, forcing a second of three possible attempts to finish the race under green. It led Busch to joke on his radio he was going to have to try to win this race yet again.

This time, Montoya started beside Busch on the restart. When the green waved, Busch took off and Montoya lagged behind.

"He caught me by surprise,'' Montoya said. "We have those two lines [on the wall where] we are supposed to start and he went for it like 40 yards before the first one. It really surprised me. It is not a big deal; he deserves to win.''