Clint Bowyer Wins the Dover 200

Saturday was an interesting and entertaining day for NASCAR fans as the Dover 200 was run on the track of Dover International Speedway. Events and adrenalin were both heated at times on Saturday as Clint Bowyer looked like a racer on a mission to put his Richard Childress Racing No. 29 Chevrolet on the podium. He accomplished his mission on this day and added a bit of momentum and energy to the team’s step and hopes for the future.

Clint kept Kyle Busch in his sights all day long, until he was finally able to make the last pass he wanted on Lap 118 of the scheduled 200 on Dover International Speedway. After that he raced fast and consistent and led for the final 83 laps around the track and was able to beat Mike Bliss to the line by 1.319 seconds for the win and the glory. This was Bowyer’s eighth Nationwide Series career win and his second during the 2009 Nationwide Series campaign.

It was an interesting and entertaining day that started with the threat of rain that never materialized, but the lack of rain didn’t stop the storm clouds from gathering around the paddock after the race. The real excitement was a pit road confrontation between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski that resulted due to Hamlin contacting Keselowski’s Chevrolet on Lap 190 and spinning into the wall. The shoving match between these two passionate racers was finally broken up by their crew members after a few minutes of heated debate over who was responsible for the crash. Hamlin said he just wanted to give Keselowski advice on what not to do on the track and that he obviously needed help in this area. Hamlin claimed that Keselowski had just run into him without trying to stop, while Keselowski stated that Hamlin had cut him off as he always does and he was just racing to win. Just a disagreement between racers about events on the track and one they aren’t likely to solve in the future.

Once all the dust settled in the race, it was still Kyle Busch who was smiling the loudest as he was able to come home in fourth, just behind third place racer Keselowski, and increase his Nationwide Series lead to 211 points over Carl Edwards. Carl finished just behind Busch in fifth but never really looked like he had the car running as good as it could and needs to do a little more work in the following races.

“Image: Zuma Press”