• SLIDESHOW: The Denny Hamlin 175

Kyle Busch was loving every minute. Denny Hamlin was long gone.

Busch took over victory lane yesterday after the Denny Hamlin 175, celebrating a race he had about 12 hours to figure out. He took over the lead for good on Lap 116 and slowly pulled away from Chris Hopkins over the final 60 laps.

"You never know when your last chance to win a race is," Busch said. "It doesn't matter if it's a big track or a small track, Cup, Busch, Nationwide or Truck, Late Models or whatever. It was just fun for us to come out here, have a good time, and support the Denny Hamlin Foundation."

Busch turned the fastest qualifying lap yesterday afternoon and donated the $100 prize to the foundation. He started seventh after the inversion, with Hamlin one spot ahead of him.

Hamlin, in the first event to benefit his new foundation, took just three laps to get to third. He spent several laps trapped behind Billy Morris before punting him on Lap 36.

That spun Morris out and earned Hamlin a trip to the rear of the field for gaining a position advantage. He didn't stay there long, moving up to sixth on Lap 82 and third just seven laps later. However, he was still nearly a half a lap behind then-second-place Busch.

Hamlin was passed by Eddie Johnson in the final laps and finished fourth in his second charity race at the track at which he grew up.

He didn't stick around long afterward, disappearing in a sport utility vehicle to prepare for this weekend's races at Richmond International Raceway.

Hopkins finished second and said he knew he'd have his hands full.

"He was tough," Hopkins said. "I knew both he and Denny would be tough."

The most spectacular wreck of the race came when Alan Purser put Mike Greathouse into the outside wall, and Greathouse's right-side tires went up on top of the wall.

His car stopped in Turn 1, and Purser pitted. Greathouse walked toward Purser's car, alternating between pointing at him, pointing at his head to signal Purser should have thought, and showing him with a hand sign what he thought of the situation.

In the 50-lap Grand Stocks race, Chris Hott held off Todd Ruggles through several late restarts. There were three cautions in the final eight laps, and Ruggles got closer on each restart. But Hott had just enough to become the fourth driver to win in the division's four starts.

Late Models (175 laps): 1. Kyle Busch; 2. Chris Hopkins; 3. Eddie Johnson; 4. Denny Hamlin; 5. Roy Hendrick; 6. Curtis Markham; 7. Russ Ellis; 8. Rob Jenkins; 9. Scott Turlington; 10. Bugs Hairfield; 11. Chris Mueller; 12. Brandon Hendrick; 13. Wayne McGee; 14. Greg Fernandez; 15. Brad Davis; 16. Wayne Patterson; 17. Sonny Allen; 18. J.B. Poates; 19. Chris Dodson; 20. Shannon Marano; 21. David Mooney; 22. Billy Morris; 23. Alan Purser; 24. Mike Greathouse; 25. Jason Pittman; 26. Chris Smith; 27. Bubba Hubbard.

Grand Stocks (50 laps): 1. Chris Hott; 2. Todd Ruggles; 3. Fred Key; 4. Bill Nixon; 5. Jason Beck; 6. Joey Bryant; 7. Jamie Neely; 8. Brian Myslivy; 9. Mike Cole; 10. Donnie Newman; 11. Daniel Shelton; 12. Cory Willoughby; 13. Michael Moore; 14. Donnie Johnson; 15. Justin Brown; 16. Wayne Cole; 17. Robert Lipford; 18. B.K. Wilson