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CONCORD — Tony Stewart capped an action-packed final segment by taking the lead two laps from the finish to win the all-star race Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the first time.

"It's about time," Stewart screamed in his radio, earning $1 million and also scoring his first victory as an owner.

Stewart dived under Matt Kenseth for the lead off turn 2 and pulled away. Kenseth finished second.

"I just couldn't hold him off," Kenseth radioed his crew after the race. "Sorry guys. You guys deserve better than me."

Kenseth later said he lost the lead because of a move half a lap earlier.

Kenseth said the bottom groove was where he was the slowest all night but he ran down there to block Stewart. Kenseth's car handled poorly down low off turn 4 and that allowed Stewart to gain momentum down the frontstretch and charge under him.

"He just rolled right by pretty much like I was tied to a tree," Kenseth said.

Third-place finisher Kurt Busch hoped for a harder battle for the lead "and we would be able to come sliding through the smoke and hoist up the trophy, but it was not to be."

Denny Hamlin finished fourth and Carl Edwards fifth. Mark Martin was sixth with Kyle Busch taking seventh, rookie Joey Logano eighth, Jamie McMurray ninth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10th.

Stewart becomes the second driver/car owner to win this race. Geoff Bodine won it in the same role in 1994.

Kyle Busch created some excitement in what had been a lackluster all-star race until the final 10-lap segment. Busch was involved in a crash when he went three wide with Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman for the lead three laps into the final segment.

Gordon was on the inside, Busch in the middle and Newman on the outside. Busch and Gordon hit. Busch bounced off Newman and back into Gordon, who spun down into the frontstretch grass and came back up the tack and slapped the wall with the nose of his car. Gordon finished 19th in the 21-car field.

"Everybody is going for it," Gordon said.

That came a few moments after Busch had gone from fourth to first on the first attempt to start the final 10-lap segment. Busch charged through the field on the start and took the lead moments before Jimmie Johnson spun. Johnson spun on the backstretch. He spun down the track and back up in front of traffic but did not hit the wall and was not hit by another car.

"I just earned my ... money there boys, I need four tires," Johnson radioed his crew.

That led to a restart of the final segment, where only green flag laps counted.

Until the final segment, there was more action off the track where Jeremy Mayfield spoke to reporters for the first time since NASCAR suspended him last weekend for failing a drug test. Mayfield denied an illegal drug caused him to fail the drug test, claimed that NASCAR has not informed him what caused the positive test and hinted at legal action.

NASCAR later issued a statement countering Mayfield's comments. NASCAR stated that "Jeremy was verbally informed of the substance on three occasions last week by NASCAR's Medical Review Officer."

Gordon won the third segment with Kenseth second and Kurt Busch third.

Kyle Busch and Kenseth raced side-by-side for the lead for a portion of a few laps in the second segment, but Busch held off the challenge. Kyle Busch won the second segment with Kenseth second and Johnson third. Kyle Busch led all 20 laps.

The first segment, which was 50 laps, went smoothly. The only problem came on pit road. Teams had to do a four-tire pit stop after lap 25.

Kyle Busch lost a couple of spots after overshooting his pits. He had to back up before his crew could work on the car.

Johnson won the first segment, leading the entire distance, with Kurt Busch second and Gordon third.

Sam Hornish Jr. won the Sprint Showdown with Jamie McMurray second. Both advanced to the all-star race. Logano, who turns 19 the day of the Coca-Cola 600, also made the all-star race through the fan vote.

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