Bowyer wins as Stewart runs dry

The Richard Childress Racing driver had been dominant for most of the distance, running 176 out of 300 laps at the front of the field, but it seemed that Stewart, who led the race early on, was heading for a perfect start to his championship playoff.

However both drivers, together with Bowyer's team-mate Jeff Burton, had gambled on staying out during the sixth caution of the race, most of the field pitting to be safe on fuel until the end.

Two further caution periods looked to be just what they needed to get to the finish without stopping again, but as it turned out Bowyer was the only one able to stretch his fuel mileage long enough.

As Stewart was about to start the final lap, his car lost fuel pressure heading out of turn four, allowing Bowyer to take the lead. From behind Denny Hamlin was closing on him without any fuel-mileage concerns, but the RCR driver had just enough of a cushion to claim his third career victory and jump up to second in the Chase standings.

"This reminded me so much of 2007," said Bowyer after winning the first race of the Chase, a feat he also achieved as a title contender three years ago. "Two weeks ago, going into Richmond, your feeling the confidence level in our race team, in our equipment level, everything was good.

"[Crew chief] Shane [Wilson] built a brand new race car and we came here and we were fast right off the truck, and everybody had a lot of confidence, a pep in their step. And we showed it from the time we unloaded to qualifying, practice, we were one of the fastest cars here.

"That's what it takes to run at this level, to be a part of that Chase, if we can go and continue to have as much fun as we did this weekend. I know it's the key, I know it is to my success."

Hamlin recovered well after getting spun by Carl Edwards on lap 213, dropping to 22nd at the time. A determined drive from the Joe Gibbs racer coupled with the right strategy to go flat out in the deciding stages, allowed him to maintain his lead in the standings for a second week.

Making a similar recovery after being penalised for speeding in the pits, Earnhardt Ganassi's Jamie McMurray crossed the finish line in third.

Whilst serving his penalty, this year's Daytona 500 winner took advantage of his visit to the pits to top up with fuel and moved up in the order when many stopped again during the sixth of eight caution periods.

Although he was able to lead the race after that following an aggressive restart, he would have to concede to Stewart later, being passed by Bowyer as well.

Burton's race ended up in a similar disappointment to Stewart's, also running out of fuel with two laps to go and whilst running fourth, handing the position to Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr, who was surprisingly the best placed car from his outfit in the end.

Kevin Harvick looked set for a low score as he struggled for balance with his #29 RCR Chevy, but he managed to put his race back on track in the second half of the event, finishing an impressive fifth after making the most of his rivals' mistakes and misfortunes.

Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch managed top-ten finishes as well, while Roush Fenway's Edwards was eleventh, recovering from his contact with Hamlin after running strong right behind Bowyer in the first half of the race.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson had a bad start to his playoff with just a 25th place finish behind Stewart. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was involved in two separate incidents during the race and an additional stop under green for a suspected loose wheel late in the race put him a lap down, well down the order.

Another title contender, Penske's Kurt Busch, was also involved in a couple of incidents following contact with his team-mate Brad Keselowski and then later with Burton. Despite the incidents he still salvaged a 13th place finish.

Matt Kenseth was another one to have contact with Keselowski, and struggled with the handling of his car for most of the race, finishing 23rd, the last car on the lead lap.

Pos  Driver              Car        Laps
 1.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet   300
 2.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota      300
 3.  Jamie McMurray      Chevrolet   300
 4.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet   300
 5.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet   300
 6.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet   300
 7.  David Reutimann     Toyota      300
 8.  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet   300
 9.  Kyle Busch          Toyota      300
10.  Sam Hornish Jr.     Dodge       300
11.  Carl Edwards        Ford        300
12.  A.J. Allmendinger   Ford        300
13.  Kurt Busch          Dodge       300
14.  Kasey Kahne         Ford        300
15.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet   300
16.  Juan Montoya        Chevrolet   300
17.  Greg Biffle         Ford        300
18.  Brad Keselowski     Dodge       300
19.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet   300
20.  Martin Truex Jr     Toyota      300
21.  Elliott Sadler      Ford        300
22.  David Ragan         Ford        300
23.  Matt Kenseth        Ford        300
24.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet   300
25.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet   299
26.  Robby Gordon        Toyota      299
27.  Reed Sorenson       Toyota      299
28.  Paul Menard         Ford        299
29.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet   298
30.  Marcos Ambrose      Toyota      298
31.  Dave Blaney         Chevrolet   297
32.  Travis Kvapil       Ford        295
33.  David Gilliland     Ford        295
34.  Tony Raines         Ford        295
35.  Joey Logano         Toyota      256
36.  Scott Speed         Toyota      213
37.  Andy Lally          Chevrolet   138
38.  Casey Mears         Toyota       93
39.  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet    89
40.  Joe Nemechek        Toyota       60
41.  Mike Bliss          Toyota       55
42.  Landon Cassill      Toyota       40
43.  Michael McDowell    Dodge        29