DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Clint Bowyer recorded his first win at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night after he drove his No. 29 Chevrolet to victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Subway Jalapeno 250.
Bowyer, who had the dominate car, leading 48 laps from the pole, held on during a green-white checkered finish to pick up his seventh career win. It also backed up his strong run with this chassis in the season opener at Daytona where he led 33 laps and finished third.
"I can’t begin to tell you what this place means to me and my family," Bowyer said. "Everything you ever work for is to come to Daytona, run well and win a race here.”
The win was the first for Richard Childress Racing in 2009 in what has been a rocky start for the team over in the Sprint Cup Series. All four RCR teams currently sit 15th or worse in the Cup Series standings.
"RCR things haven't been the best this year," Bowyer said. "Hopefully this victory will give everybody a pep in there step and some excitement."
Kyle Busch finished second for his 14th top-10 finish of the season and extended his series points lead to 172 over Carl Edwards, who came home third.
"We didn't have the best car tonight so we'll take a second place," Busch said. "The 29 car was pretty fast and of course it's a bowtie and we're struggling with what we've got with Toyota."
Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne, who was making his season debut in the series, rounded out the top five.
"It was fun to be in the Nationwide Series and work with Braun," said Kahne, who was driving the No. 10 Toyota. "We just had no help. I felt like my car was really fast and nobody wanted to push me."
The 102-lap race saw seven cautions for 31 laps including a five-car crash that ended with Kertus Davis' car catching on fire. That incident set the field up for the race to go into overtime.
The race was the last for the current Nationwide restrictor-plate car at the track as the series looks to be moving to a COT for the superspeedways and road courses in 2010.
"I think NASCAR is really making a good move to do it, and the way they are going to do it, if they do it the way they say," Richard Childress said. "To run the speedways and the road courses with it about every team will build at least four new cars next year.
"Safety is number one and I think it's worth going to."
The NASCAR Nationwide Series now heads to Chicagoland Speedway for next Friday night's Dollar General 300.
