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Bowyer Scores First Career Victory

LOUDON, N. H. — Clint Bowyer, one of the nicest guys in NASCAR, won his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race Sunday before a standing-room only crowd at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Bowyer did it in convincing fashion. Starting from the pole position, the Kansas City native led more than two-thirds of the 300-lap distance to grab the first Cup win of his career.

Sunday’s race was the first of 10 in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and it is the first time Bowyer qualified for the 12-car field.

Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon was second and two-time champion Tony Stewart was third.

Kyle Busch was fourth while two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. was fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Casey Mears, Ryan Newman and J. J. Yeley.

Bowyer’s victory was the high point for Richard Childress Racing. His Jack Daniels-sponsored Chevrolet was the class of the field while teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton struggled.

The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup couldn’t have started on a more perfect, sun-splashed New England day. It was cool enough to remind everyone that “Ole Man Winter” is right around the corner.

A driver who knows what cold winters are like proved his pole position was no fluke.

Native Kansan Bowyer, who cut his racing teeth on dirt tracks throughout the Midwest, was fast from the get-go.

Bowyer led every lap prior to the mandatory competition caution at 35 laps. He also won the race off pit road.

Ward Burton spun on the 67th lap to bring out another caution and Stewart’s crew put him in the lead with a lightning pit stop.

Bowyer, however, drove from fourth to first by lap 112. The race was turning into a six-car battle between Bowyer, Stewart, Gordon, Johnson, Newman, Kenseth and Earnhardt.

Other Chase contenders seemed to be out of the running as far as winning this event was concerned.

Kurt Busch showed some early speed but engine problems kept him from contending.

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