NNS Recap: Edwards Wins At Homestead; Bowyer Takes NASCAR Nationwide Title
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (November 15, 2008) — Carl Edwards won the battle, but Clint Bowyer won the war.
Edwards took the checkered flag in the Ford 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, depriving runner-up Kyle Busch of a record 11th victory in a single season.
But Edwards couldn’t put enough distance between his No. 60 Ford and the No. 2 Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer, who claimed his first NASCAR Nationwide championship with a fifth-place finish. Bowyer entered the race with a 56-point lead over Edwards and won the title by 21 points.
“We’ve raced each other for a long time,” Bowyer said of Edwards, who won the NASCAR Nationwide championship last year. “He’s from the Midwest (Columbia, Mo.). He’s last year’s champion, and it feels great to be able to beat him.”
Edwards, who won his seventh race of the season and the 20th of his career, beat Busch to the finish line by .639 seconds.
“That’s a great win, to hold off the 18 (Busch), as strong as he’s been all season,” said Edwards, who congratulated Bowyer on his championship. “If I’ve got to get beat by somebody, a dirt racer from Emporia, Kansas (Bowyer’s hometown) is one of the best.
“But we’ll be back next year, and I hope Clint will, too. There’s no shame in giving 100 percent and finishing second. That’s all we could do.”
Brad Keselowski ran third and claimed third in the final series standings. Jason Leffler finished fourth in Saturday’s race, followed by Bowyer, Scott Wimmer, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelly Bires and Joey Logano.
Logano’s 10th-place result was enough to secure the owners’ championship for Joe Gibbs Racing, which used four different drivers in the No. 20 Toyota this year. Logano, Busch, Hamlin and Tony Stewart combined for nine wins in the car, with Stewart accounting for five. The No. 20 car finished 12 points ahead of the No. 2 Chevrolet, driven exclusively by Bowyer.
Notes: Kenny Wallace started his 418th NASCAR Nationwide race, breaking a tie with Tommy Houston for second on the all-time list. Wallace finished 33rd… Though Landon Cassill didn’t race Saturday, he claimed Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. The other rookie contender, Bryan Clauson, entered the race six points behind Cassill but scraped the wall, fell out of the event after 157 of 200 laps and finished 34th.
November 16th, 2008 at 9:39 am
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