Kyle Busch crashes after being hit by Kevin Harvick during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

On the ensuing green flag, Edwards was first, while Johnson and Harvick were ready to race for third. Hamlin was 21st.

Hamlin picked up the pace considerably after the next round of caution-flag pit stops. Changes by the Joe Gibbs Racing crew gave the 11 car a considerable boost, while Johnson fell to seventh to 13th on pit road because of a slow pit stop.

After the green flag flew, Hamlin began clicking off positions and moved into the in-race lead in the point standings.

The race took another dramatic turn on lap 188. The leaders dropped onto pit road during a caution period, and Harvick’s crew turned in a stellar pit stop to boost him into the lead. But NASCAR officials immediately called Harvick for speeding entering pit road, sending him to the rear of the field (29th).

Harvick protested the call over his team’s radio channel, saying he could not have been speeding. “That’s just them doing what they do best,” he said of officials. After the race, he stuck by his guns, saying he was not speeding.

Later, Busch slipped in front of Harvick, and Harvick bumped Busch in the rear, sending Busch’s car sliding. It ultimately caught fire, and Busch climbed out in clouds of smoke.

Busch said he was hit by “a guy who apparently doesn’t have his head on straight. He’s such a two-faced guy that it doesn’t matter.”

Harvick said Busch “raced me like a clown all day. He cut in front of me, and I didn’t lift.”

Edwards dominated the race in winning for the second straight week. Following him in the finish order were Johnson, Harvick, Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.