CONCORD, N.C. (AP) – 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 were apparently 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.

Nemechek fell to sixth after spinning out into the grassy infield before charging back to challenge McMurray for second.

But he ran out of gas with four laps to go and finished a disappointing 21st.

“Well, I think it’s just kind of our luck right now,” Nemechek said. “We drove from the back to the front, and I was just conserving gas. Coming off (Turn) 4, it just turned around. I couldn’t save it.”

Pole-sitter Greg Biffle led the first 21 laps, but couldn’t keep control. He gradually fell off, falling to 13th around lap 120 after a pit during the day’s sixth caution. He finished sixth.

Harvick and Stewart each had early setbacks that forced them to spend a lot of time weaving their way through traffic from the back of the field.

Harvick was in second place heading into a pit during the second caution of the day. But the left rear tire rolled away from a crewman as Harvick pulled away from the pit, and officials sent Harvick to the back around lap 28.

He worked his way to second, but McMurray passed him with 13 laps left.

“I was waiting for the spotters to tell the guys I was coming, but nobody seemed to tell them,” McMurray said.

“I didn’t even pay attention that he was coming out there, until the spotter started yelling,” Harvick said. “It’s probably my fault. I should have gotten up higher and protected my spot a little bit.”

Stewart, meanwhile, had trouble with a left front shock around lap 40 that forced him to pit twice, once to remove the shock and once to replace it. That dropped him from the lead to 36th.