Bowyer wins cut Nationwide race

Bowyer took the lead of the race for the first time on lap 38 and was the dominant force at the front form then on, completing 122 laps up front.

However he had to fight intense pressure from a charging Kasey Kahne until the rain that had already delayed the start of the race returned to bring the race to a halt on lap 171 of the scheduled 300.

Officials waited in vain for the weather to improve but more clouds gathered and the rain intensified. As the race had already gone past the halfway mark, it was declared official under NASCAR rules and Bowyer the race winner.

"That was an unbelievable race with Kasey there," said Bowyer, who now moves to second in the Nationwide Series points.

"He had the faster car but my car was just flying also. This is one of the places where I always wanted to win. It's a long year and we have a long way to go but this is incredible an today was a lot of fun."

Kahne was left hoping for the race to be restarted as he had caught up with Bowyer and was waiting for the right moment to launch his attack. He made a couple of attempts to go by the Richard Childress driver but ultimately had to settle for second when the race was declared official following the red flag.

David Reutimann finished third in the end ahead of Scott Wimmer, who led the race twice, being one of only three drivers to lead laps.

Wimmer had started from pole after the qualifying session was cancelled and replaced for a practice session, given that there was no track time for the Nationwide field on Friday due to the rain.

Denny Hamlin, who was driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car for the first time this year, was the only other driver leading laps in the afternoon after jumping Wimmer at the start to lead the first 37 laps. He than had to make two unscheduled pitstops under green flag, which dropped him three laps down.

Brad Kaselowski rounded up the top five in the No. 88 JR Motorsports car, although things didn't go well for his teammate Martin Truex Jr who had a one off droving the No. 5 car.

Truex spun out of turn four on lap 14 and collected the No. 32 Braun Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch, putting both of them out of contention.

Dario Franchitti benefited from some additional track time, which will serve him well for the Sprint Cup race tomorrow.

The Scot ran in the midfield most of the distance and caused the fifth of seven cautions when he spun at turn one. The Scot finished the race in 22nd place, a lap down on the race winner.

Points leader Kevin Harvick was in contention for victory until a loose lug nut caused him a penalty. He recovered however to finish seventh and maintained the lead of the championship ahead of next weekend's race at Nashville.

Pos  Driver                  Make       Laps
 1.  Clint Bowyer            Chevrolet   171
 2.  Kasey Kahne             Dodge       171
 3.  David Reutimann         Toyota      171
 4.  Brad Keselowski         Chevrolet   171
 5.  Mike Bliss              Dodge       171
 6.  Jason Leffler           Toyota      171
 7.  Kevin Harvick           Chevrolet   171
 8.  David Ragan             Ford        171
 9.  David Stremme           Chevrolet   171
10.  Mike Wallace            Toyota      171
11.  Kenny Wallace           Dodge       171
12.  Scott Wimmer            Chevrolet   171
13.  Greg Biffle             Ford        171
14.  Carl Edwards            Ford        171
15.  Jason Keller            Chevrolet   171
16.  Steve Wallace           Chevrolet   171
17.  Bobby Hamilton Jr       Ford        171
18.  Kevin Lepage            Ford        170
19.  Marcos Ambrose          Ford        170
20.  Kelly Bires             Ford        170
21.  Johnny Sauter           Chevrolet   170
22.  Dario Franchitti        Dodge       170
23.  Kertus Davis            Chevrolet   169
24.  Mark Green              Chevrolet   169
25.  Stanton Barrett         Chevrolet   168
26.  Denny Hamlin            Toyota      167
27.  Brad Baker              Ford        167
28.  Brett Rowe              Chevrolet   166
29.  Bobby Labonte           Chevrolet   164
30.  Eric McClure            Chevrolet   164
31.  Brian Keselowski        Chevrolet   162
32.  Robert Richardson, II   Chevrolet   159
33.  Brad Coleman            Ford        153
34.  DJ Kennington           Dodge       118
35.  Bryan Clauson           Dodge        61
36.  Derrike Cope            Chevrolet    57
37.  Morgan Shepherd         Dodge        31
38.  Johnny Chapman          Chevrolet    29
39.  Larry Gunselman         Chevrolet    28
40.  Mike Harmon             Chevrolet    27
41.  Martin Truex Jr         Chevrolet    14
42.  Kyle Busch              Toyota       13
43.  Mike Potter             Chevrolet   11