DOVER, Del. (AP) – Jeff Burton had the biggest come-from-behind win ever in a Busch Series race at Dover International Speedway, overcoming a 36th-place starting position for his second victory of the season Saturday.

Burton, eighth in the Nextel Cup standings, grabbed the lead for good with 18 laps left and pulled away to win the caution-marred race. He has 22 career Busch victories.

“We were really good, but on long runs we were unbelievably good,” Burton said.

“The car was fast all day. The race at the end was a lot of fun. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Carl Edwards, who led most of the early laps, finished second for his sixth top-five finish of the season. Kurt Busch was third as the Cup regulars again dominated the series.

Burton’s win made Nextel Cup regulars a perfect 14-for-14 in Busch races this season. He also won in Atlanta.

The race was slowed by eight cautions for 34 laps, which knocked several drivers out of the race. There were 11 lead changes among eight drivers.

Rain wiped out qualifying, putting series points leader Kevin Harvick on the pole. Harvick finished 13th and increased his lead over Edwards to 297 points.

“That was probably racing at its finest,” Busch said. “That turned into a great race to watch.”

Burton, making only his seventh Busch start of the season, said there was less pressure on his team starting from the back because they weren’t really racing for series points.

“I told them before it started raining it would be cool if it rained,” Burton said. “The opportunity to start in the back, I didn’t look it as a detriment, I looked at it as something that could be fun and unique.”

Clint Bowyer led 62 laps and finished fourth. Ron Hornady Jr. and Kyle Busch rounded out the top six. Hornaday’s finish was his highest since 2004.

Edwards led as late as the 149th lap, but he couldn’t regain the lead after he decided to pit for new tires under caution with 49 laps remaining. Burton was one of only five drivers on the lead lap who stayed out, and that was enough to finally surge past Kurt Busch on No. 182.

“I got up to second and I couldn’t catch him,” Edwards said. “I think we did everything we could, but he had a faster car or he did a better job driving, one of the two.”

Edwards was second for the second day in a row after losing to Mark Martin on Friday night in the Craftsman Truck Series race. He’ll start the Cup race Sunday in 25th and hopes for a better result in the tripleheader.

“I’d really like to win one of these things this weekend,” Edwards said. “That would be a pretty good one to win.”

Scott Wimmer held the Dover record for largest comeback, charging from 26th place to win in 2002.

Not many things going right for Johnson so far

Jimmie Johnson’s spot at the top of the Nextel Cup points standings is about the only thing going right for him at Dover.

Johnson nearly wrecked his car when he spun out in qualifying, earned a season-worst 42nd spot for today’s race, and then was told he has to share a pit stall at the outdated speedway.

“I’ve never been in this position,” Johnson said Saturday. “I’m not sure what to expect.”

Certainly it’s been an odd weekend already for Johnson, who holds a 109-point lead over Matt Kenseth.

Not much has gone wrong for Johnson this season, with three wins among nine top-10 finishes. But he lost control of his No. 48 Chevrolet as he finished his first qualifying lap Friday and nearly made contact with the wall. Remarkably, Johnson avoided damaging his car, only shooting dirt and mud onto Denny Hamlin’s car on pit road.

“There was no way I could do it again and not hit anything,” he said. “I had a lot of luck on my side.”

Johnson’s crew celebrated the incredible save like he won a race, and Jeff Gordon flashed his hands like he was giving Johnson a “10.”

“They loved it,” said Johnson, who has 21 career Cup wins. “At the time, we were pretty stoked.”

It was a nifty maneuver, but it didn’t do much for his start.

Johnson will start 42nd – he hadn’t been lower than 25th – in the 43-car field, causing an unusual predicament for him. Dover only has 42 pit stalls, so he’ll have to share his spot with Scott Wimmer.

Whichever driver is ahead on the race track will get pitting priority. Johnson will get the first chance to move out to his own stall if another team is knocked out and vacates its spot in Sunday’s Neighborhood Excellence 400.

“It’s tough for me to believe that in today’s world of racing we can’t modify a pit road and can’t adjust it to where all 43 cars have their own pit stall,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t aware of it. I’ve never been in this position, fortunately. It just doesn’t give everybody a fair shot.”

It might not be a problem in the future. Dover International Speedway starts a five-year improvement project on the track after the race, which includes an expanded pit road on the Monster Mile.

“We’ve got to make the most of it,” he said. “We’ll try and stay ahead of the 4 car I guess so that we have priority on pit road.”

Starting so far in the back of the pack could change the way Johnson approaches the race.

“We have to see how the feel of the race starts off and take our risks according to that,” he said.

While this won’t be his easiest race to win, Johnson is still one of the drivers to beat when the points title race heats up. Next week, he’s at one of his favorite tracks on the 21/2-mile triangle at Pocono, where he swept both races in 2004.

“We’ve had a lot of success and I don’t feel our cars have been as refined as they were in previous years,” he said. “That gives me a lot of excitement getting closer to the Chase. I still think we’ve got a lot of room to grow with our race cars.”

AP-ES-06-03-06 1552EDT