BMS Notebook: Bowyer Tries to Stay on Top
Published: March 16, 2008
Updated: March 16, 2008
Clint Bowyer
Running his jet-black No. 7 Chevrolet along a fine line, Bowyer jumped ahead of Jeff Gordon on lap nine, and then pulled past Jimmie Johnson five laps later.
Bowyer led 81 laps in Sunday’s race, and finished in third place.
Clean start
The first 49 laps ran fast, smooth and clean. And the only reason the racing stopped was because of a NASCAR-mandated competition yellow at lap 50.
There were no flags and no wrecks, while Bowyer and Tony Stewart moved along the track with deceptive ease.
Stewart, who began the race in sixth, had moved up to second place by the race’s first yellow flag.
Bowyer, who started in third, pulled ahead of pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson on lap 14, using the inside of Turn 4 to his advantage, and then held onto the lead through lap 52.
Right on time
A yellow flag on lap 94, waved because of debris at Turn 2, played right into Stewart’s hands.
Bowyer went into the caution in first place, after fending off a hard charge from Stewart.
But while Stewart pitted clean, Bowyer was boxed in by lapped traffic, and came out of the caution in sixth place.
Turn 2, Lap 190
It was exactly what BMS fanatics love.
A six-car collision was the first major crash of the day, as Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray, Dario Franchitti, Bobby Labonte and Ken Schrader all took hits.
The caution flag waved from laps 190-97.
A collision between McMurray and Franchitti began the melee.
Turn 2, Lap 290
Kyle Busch
By the time Busch hit Turn 2, the bottom of his car was engulfed in a gray cloud.
And before Busch could make it to Turn 3, he spun hard, pulling a 360-degree revolution before he headed towards the retaining wall that separates the track from pit row.
The spin was greeted by a loud cheer from the crowd at BMS.
Busch, who came into Sunday’s race leading the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was also leading the race before his spin.
Busch also gave Toyota its first-ever NASCAR victory last Sunday in the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta, Ga., and he was a winner in Bristol last spring.
But the spinout ended Busch’s strong run at BMS.
He finished the day in 19th, and spent the rest of the race blocking the way of drivers on the lead lap – particularly Stewart.
Busch battled with Stewart from laps 343 to 345. And laps 361-367 were more of the same. Stewart ran in first place, while Busch drove like he was in second.
But Busch’s spin, reportedly caused by a failure in his power-steering box, sent him to the back of the pack.
’s No. 18 Toyota showed smoke just after Turn 1. won Saturday’s Sharpie Mini 300, and Bowyer didn’t miss a beat when Sunday’s Food City 500 began.Advertisement
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