Clint Bowyer gets his first-ever Nextel Cup victory today in the Sylvania 300 at New Hamphshire International Speedway….and a more boring race you may never see! I guess this race was really over on Friday when Bowyer grabbed the pole, cause there sure wasn’t any passing today. Bowyer led 222 of the 300 circuits to take his initial victory in his 64th career start….becoming the 4th first-timer of the season (Casey Mears, Martin Truex Jr, and Juan Pablo Montoya preceded him). In becoming the 15th different winner this season, Bowyer gets win #86 for Richard Childress, and is now tied for 116th on the all-time win list. We had 13 different drivers win last season and 15 in 2005. Bowyer also becomes the first Chase competitor to get his first win during the Chase….and it was worth $259,175 from the over $5.3M in posted awards. Jeff Gordon (2nd) had his best finish since he was runner-up when we were here in July. Casey Mears (8th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Chicagoland in July. Jamie McMurray (11th) had his best finish since he won at Daytona in July. Joe Nemechek (29th) had his best finish since he was 29th at Chicagoland in July. STREAKIN….Tony Stewart has 8 Top-10’s in the last 9 races. Jimmie Johnson has 6 Top-10’s in the last 7 races. The Rookie Report: David Ragan (19th) captures this award for the 12th time this season….he now leads Juan Pablo Montoya 12-11 in this category. He was followed by Montoya (23rd), Paul Menard (24th), David Reutimann (26th), and A. J. Allmendinger (33rd). This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is a lonely Matt Kenseth (+23). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Elliott Sadler (-31), followed by Dave Blaney (-25), Kurt Busch (-22), and Regan Smith (-20). Kenseth has been Op five times already this season…..our leader in the “Shaft”. We’ve got a tie at the top of the Chase points as Jeff Gordon made up those 20 points on his teammate Jimmie Johnson today. Kurt Busch plummets to the basement. In “Classic” Points, Gordon keeps that 312 margin over Tony Stewart. Reed Sorenson (25th to 23rd) made the best move forward today, while Kurt Busch (10th to 12th) and the absent Mark Martin (24th to 26th) were the only multiple position movers in the negative direction.(Stock Car Fans)(9-16-2007)
