Carl Edwards appeared to be a lock to win his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series race after passing Kyle Busch for the lead with 50 laps remaining in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500.

But Edwards' fortunes turned sour six laps later when smoke began pouring out of his Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

"Man, that's a winning race car right there," said Edwards, as glanced at his No. 99 Fusion, which suffered engine failure. "I believe we had the car that was the class of the field.

"We had that good of a race car. I was just cruising around, so we've got a lot of good things to look forward to."

During his post-race victory interview, Busch admitted that his Toyota was little match for Edwards' Ford.

"Carl Edwards had the best car here today by far," Busch said. "Whatever those guys have got over there that they've figured out is really scaring us."

First for crew chief

Busch's victory was the first at the Cup Series level for crew chief Steve Addington.

"I'm just excited for my guys," said Addington, who spent 15 years on the pit box for Nationwide Series driver Jason Keller. "They've went through a lot the past three years.

"To get Kyle on board and give those guys their first win, that was an awesome feeling today."

The 44-year-old Addington acknowledged his first year driver's revitalization of the No. 18 team, which has struggled for the past four seasons.

"Working with Kyle is great," Addington said. "He just pushes you to make the car better.

"He's fit right in here and the guys love him to death. I believe they'd walk through fire for him right now."

Like the Labonte days

Busch's victory brought back memories of the six races Bobby Labonte won in a No. 18 Gibbs car at Atlanta.

"It means a lot to go out and win any race anytime, especially here at Atlanta," Busch said. "This place has been such a struggle for me. I haven't had a top 10 finish here.

"But I remember the years of watching Bobby Labonte race around this place and kicking everybody's butt. That sort of reminded me a little bit about it today being able to race like that and bring that 18 car back up front and run here the way that it used to."

Georgians struggle

Sunday wasn't a memorable day for the two Georgians in the field.

Peachtree City's Reed Sorenson wound up four laps off the pace in 31st in his No. 41 Dodge. David Ragan, of Unadilla, managed to pull off a 23rd-place finish in his No. 6 Ford.

"We got it decent there about the midway point of the race," Ragan told reporters. "But for the most part, it was just a struggle.

"It was just a real long day. I'm looking forward to Bristol next week."