SPARTA, Ky. (AP) – Stephen Leicht took advantage of Carl Edwards’ late wreck to win for the first time in the Busch Series, passing fellow rookie Brad Coleman with 13 laps left and holding on Saturday night in the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

Leicht, whose best finish previous was eighth in the Pepsi 300 in April, beat Coleman by 1.851 seconds.

A year after unsung David Gilliland stunned the field, Leicht repeated the feat at the 1.5-mile oval, a track that has become friendly to first-time winners because of the absence of many Nextel Cup drivers who usually run the series.

Leicht had led all of 11 laps this season before Saturday night, including 10 in last week’s Federated 300 in Nashville.

He’d managed just two top-10 finishes all season and had finished better than 20th just once in his last eight starts.

Two months of frustration, however, went away following the final caution of the night on lap 178. On the restart six laps later, Leicht quickly caught Scott Wimmer, then used his momentum to blow by good friend Coleman.

For the first 156 laps, it looked like another runaway for Edwards, the series leader and Nextel Cup regular.

Edwards led 96 laps and seemed well on his way to his fifth victory of the season, third in a row and second Busch win at Kentucky. His lead grew to 10 seconds before a caution for debris came on lap 152.

Edwards’ night ended on the restart, however, when Steve Wallace bumped him into the wall heading into the first turn. Edwards managed to return to the track, but missed 21 laps and finished 33rd.

AP-ES-06-16-07 2356EDT