DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The fireworks were supposed to come once the Coke Zero 400 ended Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch decided to get it started a couple of seconds early.

Stewart spun Busch as the two sprinted for the checkered flag, sending Stewart into Victory Lane and Busch hurtling into the wall.

"You don't want a race to be decided like that," said Stewart, who was met by boos as he exited his car. "It's hard work that gets these cars to the racetrack. It's just a bad situation. It is what it is. I don't feel as much gratification from winning this race as I probably should."

The win adds to what is becoming a magical season for Stewart and the new Stewart-Haas Racing team. He came into the race as the Chase points leader and left with his second victory of the season and his third July win at the Florida superspeedway.

Stewart's No. 14 Burger King Chevrolet was the car to beat most of the night, but Busch appeared to have won when he passed Stewart as the white flag waved. Busch's lead lasted all the way until the exit of Turn 4, when the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota tried to block Stewart twice.

The first one worked. The second one didn't as Stewart sent Busch into the outside wall. Stewart crossed the finish line with Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin in tow.

"We got a run off of four," said Stewart, who was teammates with Busch until this year. "Kyle blocked us there. We were able to get up to his right rear. He tried to protect his spot. I would have done the same thing."

AP

Kyle Busch (left) spins as he is hit by Tony Stewart heading to the finish line.

View larger More photos Photo store

Busch's ride didn't end when he was tapped by Stewart. He also was clipped by Kasey Kahne as he crossed the finish line. Busch was forced by NASCAR officials to go to the infield-care center and did not talk to reporters. He ended up 14th.

Johnson said Stewart did nothing wrong.

"Tony didn't mean to dump him," the driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet said. "It's just a product of restrictor-plate racing. Every time we leave these tracks, there's questions about how we can stop it. We can't."

Stewart led nine times for a race-high 86 laps of the 160-lap race. His main competition came from Hamlin, who lined up outside Stewart on the final restart with four laps to go but couldn't beat him. He decided to push Busch to the front instead.

"I had to make a decision once the 18 and the 14 were beside each other," said Hamlin, who led six times for 63 laps. "The best chance for one of our cars to win was for me to push the 18 on the last lap.

"Usually when you lead the last lap, your percentage of winning is pretty good. It's just like Talladega, when you've got one blocking and one being aggressive, you're going to have contact."

Running up front helped save Stewart and Hamlin from the carnage behind them. There were eight cautions, with the biggest wreck collecting 13 cars, including Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman along with crowd favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.