DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The pack is back. And so is the Big One.

Kyle Busch edged Tony Stewart in a thrilling finish to the first race of 2012, using a sling-shot pass Saturday night on the last lap of the exhibition Budweiser Shootout to beat the defending NASCAR champion to the checkered flag.

It gave Busch a victory in a wild race that included two incredible saves by the eventual winner to stay in contention in the 75-lap sprint around Daytona International Speedway.

“I don’t know how many times I spun out, but I didn’t spin out, you know?” smiled Busch, who gave Toyota its first Shootout victory.

The event was a preview of next weekend’s season-opening Daytona 500, and showed that NASCAR has successfully broken up the two-car tandem racing that dominated restrictor-plate racing last year. Fans were overwhelmingly opposed to that style of racing — NASCAR said earlier this month surveys showed over 80 percent of those polled hated the tandem — and the sanctioning body worked hard through the offseason.