Concord, N.C. ? Kyle Busch needed a bit of good fortune to take the lead late in Saturday’s Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Then he just made sure he had enough gas to hold on.

The rookie went ahead when leader Joe Nemechek lost control with 18 laps to go, then pulled away from the field before winning under caution. It was his second win in his last three NASCAR Busch Series races.

Busch finished second in this race last year in his Busch debut, falling behind Matt Kenseth on a late restart. This time, Busch benefited from the late caution on Nemechek’s spinout to save gas for a final push to the checkered flag.

Busch won under caution after Tony Raines hit the wall with two laps to go.

“I just kept watching the fuel gauge making sure we were all right,” Busch said. “We were doing pretty good and saving fuel on those last cautions.”

Several of the leaders apparently were low enough on gas that they drove on the apron during the last caution to avoid the banked turns, which could slosh gas away from the intake and stall the car.

“We just moseyed around there as quickly as we could,” Busch said.

After the race, Busch burned his tires on the front straightaway, sending thick clouds of white smoke into the air. When the haze cleared, the exuberant 19-year-old was standing on the door of his car with his helmet off and arms raised in celebration.

Jamie McMurray finished second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Jason Leffler and Tony Stewart.