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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It took Tony Stewart just five hours to go from brooding over his battered Daytona 500 car to celebrating a victory in the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

The two-time Cup champion held off a last-lap challenge from Kyle Busch to win the Nationwide race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

"After this morning, it's great," said Stewart, who lost his Daytona 500 car and that of teammate Ryan Newman to wrecks during morning practice. "This is a good way to rebound."

Stewart passed 23 cars in 11 laps to get back into contention after pitting with 30 laps to go in the 120-lap race, then hung onto the lead as Busch, Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer fought for position.

It was Stewart's fourth Daytona victory. He also won the second-tier series' season opener last year in another late-race battle with Busch.

Edwards, who won the Nationwide title two years ago, finished second, followed by Bowyer and Busch.

Greg Biffle finished fifth, followed by Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Ragan, giving Sprint Cup drivers the top eight positions. Nationwide regular Jason Keller was ninth.

Jason Leffler, another Nationwide regular, ignited a four-car crash just past the halfway mark in the race, banging into the rear of Steven Wallace and knocking Wallace sideways. Rookies Scott Lagasse Jr. and Justin Allgaier also were involved.

Leffler said he was just trying to let Wallace back in line, but NASCAR held him in the pits for five laps for aggressive driving.

TONY'S TIRE TROUBLES: Stewart ripped Goodyear earlier Saturday after the blown tire incident during practice for today's Daytona 500 that wrecked his care in addition to the car of teammate Ryan Newman.

Newman blew a right rear tire and spun in front of Stewart, wrecking both cars. Both teams will go to backup cars and start at the rear of the field. It's the third car Newman will have used this week. Stewart relinquishes his fifth-place starting spot.

"Apparently this is their marketing strategy to get press," Stewart said of Goodyear. "Just tired of talking about them. Tired of them being an issue. Us talking about it right now isn't going to change anything because it falls on deaf ears. That won't change."

Goodyear's Stu Grant, general manager of world-wide racing, called Newman's tire problem a "classic case of a &ellipses; punctured right rear."

Grant said he planned to meet with Stewart, who has been critical of Goodyear before, to discuss the situation.

TO THE REAR: Among those expected to go to the rear of the starting lineup because of going to a backup car or making an engine change are: Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Scott Speed, Michael Waltrip, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick.

PIT STOPS: Reed Sorenson was the fastest in the final practice session with a lap of 191.575 mph. He was followed by Matt Kenseth (191.042 mph), Kurt Busch (190.815), Juan Pablo Montoya (190.751) and Greg Biffle (190.718). &ellipses; Robby Gordon and Terry Labonte skipped practice. &ellipses; The last time the pole-sitter won the Daytona 500 was in 2000 by Dale Jarrett. &ellipses; No Daytona 500 winner has started worse than 34th.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com