Crafton and Coulter were engaged in a spirited game of cat-and-mouse over the final 20 laps, but Crafton held onto his truck-length lead as they crossed the start-finish line, allowing him to celebrate his first win since Iowa in 2011 with a burnout that tore up one of his rear tires.

Coulter chased him across to finish second. Ryan Blaney got around Brendan Gaughan on the final lap to finish third, and Johnny Sauter rounded out the top five.

There were 11 cautions during the race, and a red flag flew for about 12 minutes after Brennan Newberry and Todd Bodine were involved in a wreck that scattered debris all over the track.

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With a shot at grabbing his first Nationwide Series win Saturday, he wasn’t going to make that same mistake again.

Especially not against Kyle Busch.

Larson stalked Busch over the closing laps around Bristol Motor Speedway waiting to make a move. It came as they closed in on the finish line, and Larson made a last-gasp push on the high side that fell just short as Busch held on for his second win of the season.

But in chasing the win the right way, the 20-year-old Larson cleaned up some of the criticism that had followed him from Daytona last month after spinning C.E. Falk III on the final lap of the “Battle at the Beach” late model race.

“You certainly want to try to win races the right way,” Busch said. “He played it smart today. That was good on his end. I think a lot of people have been looking at him to try to see if he’s going to be to a wrecker or a checker. Today he didn’t get the checkers, but that’s how you get them. You drive into the corner, or drive into the back of me, I’m going to be here for a while and if he keeps coming up through the ranks, he’s not going to have fun dealing with me every week.

“But right now? I’m going to race him as hard as he raced me, but just as clean as he raced me because he didn’t put a fender on me all day.”

Larson had his win over Falk in the back of his head during the closing laps at Bristol as he looked for a place to try to grab the win. Although he has received high praise from Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne as NASCAR’s next big star, his move in the “Battle of the Beach” caused many top Sprint Cup drivers to openly criticize Larson.

“I was pretty aggressive at the ‘Battle of the Beach’ and I didn’t want to have anything like that happen again and have more people look at me,” Larson said. “I don’t race that way and didn’t want to move (Busch). I wanted to outrace him. I’d gain a little more respect that way, and it made for a better finish, I think.”

Indeed it did, as both drivers closed in on lapped cars as they neared the finish line. Busch chose the low line and Larson went high, then tried to squeeze his way past Busch. Larson’s car bounced off of both the wall and Busch’s car, but he was nipped at the finish line by Busch by .023 seconds.

“He’s got a lot of talent,” Busch said. “Obviously, he’s already made a name for himself and he’s got a lot going for him. I’m 27 and I feel like I’m getting old. Every time I looked in the rear view mirror he caught me, so I stopped looking. I didn’t want to know where he was at.”

It was Busch’s fifth career Nationwide victory at Bristol, tying him with Kevin Harvick for the most in the series. Busch has a series-record 53 wins, and two in the last four weeks after going winless last season.

Brian Vickers was third and was followed by Nationwide Series points leader Sam Hornish Jr. and Harvick.

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Annett will undergo immediate surgery in Charlotte and will be out of the No. 43 Ford indefinitely. Cup driver Aric Almirola will replace Annett in the Nationwide race this weekend at Phoenix.

Annett, 26, was involved in an 11-car crash near the end of the event that caused a red flag, halting the race for 20 minutes. It was not the final-lap crash that caused parts of Kyle Larson’s airborne car to enter the grandstands and injure spectators.

The crash involving Annett happened with three laps to go. Annett’s car was hit and turned to the right, slamming head-on into the SAFER barrier. Annett was taken to a Daytona hospital and kept overnight, but released the next morning.

He was re-evaluated by doctors in North Carolina on Tuesday when the sternum fracture was discovered.

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