Kyle Busch braced himself for a four-lap “trophy dash” around Daytona International Speedway, intent on snatching a win from Tony Stewart.

Busch thought he mapped out the strategy to take him to victory lane.

Instead, he ended the race in the infield care center after a vicious last-lap accident sent him flying into the wall as Stewart skirted by for a somber win.

“That’s not the way I wanted to do it,” Stewart said after his Saturday night win gave him his third victory in five years in summer races in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Stewart had the dominant car, leading a race-high 86 laps and using a flawless pit-road performance to set himself up for his second win as owner of his race team. But Busch had other ideas, taking the lead seconds before the last lap to start a frantic 2.5-mile chase between the former teammates.

Busch passed Stewart right before the final lap to take the lead, but Stewart chased him down and calculated his next move. Stewart closed in on Busch’s bumper, and slight contact sent Busch drifting up the track.

Busch slid back down to maintain his lead, then tried to slide in front of Stewart to block Stewart’s next move. The cars were too close together and Stewart hooked Busch’s right corner to send Busch sailing into the wall.

Just another wild restrictor-plate finish for NASCAR, which is still smarting from a frightening crash in April at Talladega Superspeedway, where Carl Edwards went airborne into the fence in a similar last-lap crash.

It was a horrendous wreck for Busch, who climbed from his car apparently unscathed but had to be forced by four NASCAR officials into a waiting safety vehicle. He finished 14th and refused to comment after the race.

Jimmie Johnson was second, and Denny Hamlin, Busch’s teammate, finished third. Edwards was fourth, and Kurt Busch fifth.

“It’s plate racing. We’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t,” Johnson said. “The guys are racing. Tony didn’t mean to dump him. It’s just the product of restrictor-plate racing.”