Stewart edges Busch, Earnhardt

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Tony Stewart held off a charge from teammate Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the Camping World 300 on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Stewart won in a Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing after starting on the pole in the season opener of NASCAR’s second-tier Nationwide Series, formerly the Busch Series.

Busch was second followed by Earnhardt in a Chevrolet and Brian Vickers in another Camry – giving Toyota three of the top four spots.

“This car was just fast,” said Stewart,who, along with several other NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, also competes in some Nationwide events.

But Stewart credited Busch for keeping him in front by drafting behind him – and thus giving him a push – on the 2.5-mile, high-banked Daytona oval.

“Kyle ran a great race,” Stewart said. “We would just stay with each other and push each other and try to clear ourselves from the rest of the pack.”

A multi-car crash that took out Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and several others late in the 120-lap race set up a final dash to the checkered flag.

With six laps left after the restart, Busch, Earnhardt, Vickers, Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth challenged for the lead but couldn’t reach Stewart.

Earnhardt’s Nationwide team, which he owns, had to make pre-race repairs after NASCAR found his No. 5 Chevy had an illegal modification to its rear spoiler.

Earnhardt said he was “disappointed” with his team and that the incident was a distraction, but he didn’t cover it up.

“We just got caught doing something everyone else is doing,” he said.

“We were kind of behind once we got caught cheating there.”

The series’ next race is Saturday at California Speedway.

james.peltz@latimes.com