Clint Bowyer salutes the fans after winning the Bashas Supermarket 200.

Bowyer Beats Kenseth For Busch Series Win
By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

AVONDALE, Ariz. (April 20, 2007) -- Clint Bowyer held off Matt Kenseth over the final six laps and took the checkered flag under caution in Friday night's NASCAR Busch Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200, as J.J. Yeley and Jon Wood crashed in Turn 2 on the last lap at Phoenix International Raceway.

Jeff Burton, Bowyer's Richard Childress Racing teammate, finished third, followed by Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards, who extended his points lead over 10th-place finisher Dave Blaney to 424 points.

Burton made a run at Kenseth three laps from the finish as Kenseth overdrove Turn 1, and that allowed Bowyer to pull away slightly. Bowyer led four times for 120 laps.

"When I saw that green car (Kenseth's Ford) off my bumper, that was when it got a lot more comfortable," said Bowyer, who posted his first Busch win of the season and the fourth of his career. "Man, that thing was just way too close there for a long time -- he was just so great there on the restarts."

Kenseth, who led 17 laps late in the race, had just surrendered the top spot to Bowyer when caution slowed the field on Lap 188.

"We just didn't have the car do what we needed to do," Kenseth said. "I needed to be able to run on the bottom and be able to turn in the middle, and I really couldn't do that. To compensate for that, we kind of had the car too loose the whole time, and I had to run up top where the most grip was."

Kenseth got the nose of his Ford in front of Bowyer's Chevy at the start/finish line on Lap 170 and completed a pass for the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Bowyer harried Kenseth to the inside for the next 15 laps, and the two cars came to the stripe in a dead heat on Lap 186.

When Bowyer and Kenseth came to the line on the Lap 187, Bowyer held the lead by .039 seconds and cleared Kenseth out of Turn 2, before Stephen Leicht's cut right front tire brought out the 10th caution of the race.

Polesitter Kyle Busch's luck went from bad to worse Friday night. Winless in six previous Busch Series events despite having led 499 total laps, Busch fell out of the race after contact with Ryan Newman on Lap 101 turned him into the outside wall.

Busch's No. 5 Chevy then slid across the track into the path of rookie David Ragan, who bounced off Busch's car and rear-ended the No. 24 Chevrolet of Casey Mears.

Checkered Flag Fast Facts

• Clint Bowyer won the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200, his fourth victory in 92 NASCAR Busch Series races.
• This is his first victory and third top-10 finish – all top-fives - in five races at Phoenix.
• This is Bowyer’s first victory in the five NASCAR Busch Series he has completed in this season. It is his fourth top-10 – also all top-fives.
• This is car owner Richard Childress’ second NASCAR Busch Series victory at Phoenix. He won this race last season with Kevin Harvick as the driver.
• Matt Kenseth finished second as the race ended under caution.
• Carl Edwards (fifth) retained the lead in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings and is now 424 points ahead of Dave Blaney.
• Jeff Burton (fourth) has posted a top-10 finish in all five NASCAR Busch Series races he has competed in this season.

Event News Archive

4/18: Entry List (PDF)

4/19: Thursday 1st Practice Speed Chart (PDF)

4/19: Thursday Rookie Practice Speed Chart (PDF)

4/19: Thursday Final Practice Speed Chart (PDF)

4/19: Qualifying Order (PDF)

4/20: Qualifying Results (PDF)

4/20: Starting Lineup (PDF)

4/20: Race Results (PDF)

4/20: Point Standings (PDF)

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Bashas’ Supermarkets 200
The Place: Phoenix International Raceway
The Date: April 20, 20071
Green Flag: 9:30 p.m. (ET), 8:30 p.m. (AT)
TV: ESPN2, 9:00 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 1-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,259,255
2006 Winner: Kevin Harvick
2006 Pole: Jason Leffler
Track Schedule (local time): Fri., April 19 – Practice, 11:15 a.m.-12:35 p.m., Rookie Practice, 4:25-4:55 p.m., Final Practice, 6:45-7:45 p.m. Sat., April 20 – Qualifying, 2:35 p.m.
Pre-Race Point Standings: click here (PDF)

Television

Practice: Thursday, April 19 (Speed at 11 p.m. AT, 10 p.m. ET)

Qualifying: Friday, April 20 (Speed at 6:30 p.m. AT, 5:30 p.m. ET)

Race: Friday, April 20 (ESPN2 at 10 p.m. AT, 9 p.m. ET) (TSN-HD, Apr. 21 at 4 a.m. AT, 3 a.m. ET)

Roush Fenway Hot Entering Phoenix

If the weather is warm in Phoenix then David Ragan (No. 6 Discount Tire Ford) must be red hot coming into Phoenix International Raceway 10th in the NASCAR Busch Series standings.

Ragan is doing double-duty this season, also driving the No. 6 AAA Ford for (car-owner) Jack Roush in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. Ragan had an impressive weekend at Texas Motor Speedway posting his career-first NASCAR Busch Series pole and top-five finish.

Roush Fenway Racing has turned it on this season with Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts Ford), Matt Kenseth (No. 17 Arby’s Ford), and Ragan all in the top 10 of the NASCAR Busch Series standings.

"This is probably our best run as a team,” said Ragan. “You always want to run a little better than you did, but what a great rebound from last week. The Discount Tire Ford Fusion team worked extremely hard in getting the car prepared.”

Ragan has also made ground up in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings moving ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Texaco/ Havoline Dodge) for second place, only two points behind leader Marcos Ambrose (No. 59 Kingsford Ford).

Consistency has been the key to Ragan’s early success, as he has notched five top-20 finishes in the first eight races of the season.

Ragan has raced at Phoenix International Raceway only once previously, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2006, where he finished 17th.

Ragan has a Driver Rating of 66.1 and an Average Running Position of 23.829 in the NASCAR Busch Series Season-to-Date Loop Data.

Pre-Race Notes

• JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., opened up their brand new 66,000 square foot facility which includes the first-ever retail store exclusively for Earnhardt. The team also signed seven-time Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath to drive a Late Model and possibly move up to the NASCAR Busch Series next season. “This is something I’ve always wanted to try, and I’m really grateful that Dale Jr. is giving me this opportunity to drive one of his race cars,” McGrath said.
• Tony Raines will be driving the No. 33 Roadloans.com Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. this week at Phoenix. Kevin Harvick will drive the No. 77 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet.
• David Gilliland (No. 25 FreeCreditReport.com Ford) will be returning to Phoenix International Raceway for his second NASCAR Busch Series start of the season. Phoenix is where Gilliland made his debut in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2005.
• In the booth this weekend for ESPN2 will be three old friends Andy Petree, Jerry Punch, and Dale Jarrett. All three are originally from Newton, North Carolina and all graduated from Newton-Conover High School 25 years ago. All three went on to pursue different professions, Jerry Punch went on to be a emergency room physician before returning to motorsports as an announcer, Dale Jarrett followed in his fathers foot steps to become a successful NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion, and Andy Petree went on to become a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup crew chief winning two championships. Now after all this time, all three are back together this weekend to share their knowledge of the sport.

Photo Gallery - Friday, April 20


Clint Boyer (2) raced Matt Kenseth (17) for the race win.


Boywer crossed the finish line just ahead of Kenseth and Jeff Burton (white hood), and a whole gaggle of other cars...


Celebrating in Victory Lane.

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.