NASCAR Busch Series: Clint Bowyer Takes Bashas' Supermarkets 200

Carl Edwards finished fifth to extend his points lead over Dave Blaney to 424 points.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

PHOENIX - Clint Bowyer had come close before in NASCAR Busch Series competition at PIR, but for the 27-year-old driver of the No. 2 Camping World/RVs.com Chevrolet, close was far from good enough.

Bowyer waged a head-to-head battle with Matt Kenseth down the stretch of the Bashas' Supermarkets 200, swapping the lead with the veteran driver several times in the waning laps and finally taking over for good on Lap 187 to win his first event of the 2007 season.

The win for Bowyer was his fourth overall in Busch Series competition.

Bowyer led a race-high 120 laps after starting from the second position, and though polesitter Kyle Busch held the lead for the event's opening 33 circuits, Bowyer knew his car would be one to beat when all was said and done.

"The first lap on this track, (the car) was blazin' fast," Bowyer said. "It helps when you like the car you're driving."

Previously, Bowyer's high Busch Series finishes on the one-mile desert oval came by way of a runner-up finish to Carl Edwards in November 2005 and a fourth-place finish in November 2006.

"It's a fun track. It's always fun to come here. We've come close in the Busch car and it's nice to finally come to Victory Lane."

The win by NEXTEL Cup Series regular Bowyer was the ninth consecutive such victory of the 2007 season and the 27th in a row by a driver in that category dating back to June 2006. Like many NEXTEL Cup Series drivers, Bowyer is running a partial Busch Series schedule in 2007.

Kenseth led 17 laps, all of which came in the late-stage battle with Bowyer, and Bowyer's Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton led 23 before finishing third. The race was delayed by 11 cautions for 57 laps.

Edwards finished fifth to extend his points lead over Dave Blaney to 424 points.

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