DOVER, Del. — Clint Bowyer raced to his second Nationwide Series victory of the season on Saturday, taking the lead with 83 laps to go on the concrete at Dover International Speedway.
His celebration was ignored as all attention turned to a brief, but heated, confrontation on pit road between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. They made contact late in the race, sending Hamlin to the garage. Keselowski finished third and was greeted when he got out of his car by an angry Hamlin.
They exchanged words, and Hamlin shoved Keselowski. Keselowski’s public relations rep shoved Hamlin. The crews for both drivers got between the drivers. Keselowski crew chief Tony Eury Jr. ended it after a brief chat with Hamlin.
“I wanted to talk to him,” Hamlin said. “He obviously needs some sort of guidance on what he needs to do to make it.”
Keselowski blamed Hamlin for the accident.
“He cuts me off like he always does,” Keselowski said. “He’s Denny Hamlin.”
Mike Bliss was second. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.
Busch kept his overall lead in the points standings. He also became the second driver in the second-tier series to ever lead 2,000 laps in a season.
Bowyer was driving in only his ninth Nationwide race of the season.
“Dover is one of my best racetracks so it’s probably fitting I was able to get in this car and race this race,” he said.
Busch dominated the first 100 laps despite communication issues with his crew. He could hear instruction over the radio, but no one could hear what Busch was saying.
Saturday at Dover International Speedway
Dover, Del.
Lap length: 1 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (16) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 200 laps, 139.8 rating, 190 points.
2. (3) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 200, 117.9, 170.
3. (12) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 200, 109.7, 170.
4. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, 137.2, 170.
5. (2) Carl Edwards, Ford, 200, 116.5, 160.
6. (15) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 200, 99.3, 150.
7. (10) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 200, 93.3, 146.
8. (5) Scott Speed, Toyota, 200, 108.4, 142.
9. (13) David Reutimann, Toyota, 200, 96.2, 138.
10. (18) Jason Keller, Ford, 200, 87.5, 134.
11. (11) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 200, 92.3, 130.
12. (7) Steve Wallace, Chevrolet, 200, 88, 127.
13. (42) Michael Annett, Toyota, 200, 77.5, 124.
14. (32) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 199, 70.6, 121.
15. (29) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 199, 77.1, 118.
16. (24) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 199, 74.2, 115.
17. (17) Erik Darnell, Ford, 198, 78.9, 112.
18. (8) John Wes Townley, Ford, 198, 76.1, 109.
19. (36) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 198, 67.4, 106.
20. (30) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 197, 55, 103.
21. (20) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, 196, 65.1, 100.
22. (35) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 195, 51.2, 97.
23. (33) Ken Butler, Chevrolet, 195, 54.8, 94.
24. (40) Eric McClure, Ford, 195, 41.4, 91.
25. (26) Justin Allgaier, Dodge, 192, 70, 88.
26. (38) Matthew Carter, Ford, 191, 44.9, 85.
27. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, accident, 189, 90.5, 82.
28. (37) Bobby Hamilton Jr., Dodge, 185, 46.5, 79.
29. (23) Michael McDowell, Dodge, 150, 62.2, 76.
30. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, accident, 144, 89.2, 73.
31. (14) Tim Andrews, Chevrolet, engine, 100, 61.7, 70.
32. (28) Brad Teague, Ford, ignition, 51, 40.2, 67.
33. (22) Jarit Johnson, Chevrolet, ignition, 35, 50.1, 64.
34. (41) Danny O’Quinn Jr., Dodge, transmission, 34, 40.2, 61.
35. (27) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, ignition, 25, 48.1, 58.
36. (25) Casey Atwood, Chevrolet, vibration, 10, 40.4, 55.
37. (43) Andy Ponstein, Chevrolet, electrical, 6, 34.5, 52.
38. (9) Dennis Setzer, Dodge, handling, 4, 35.6, 49.
39. (31) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, brakes, 3, 36.1, 46.
40. (19) Johnny Chapman, Chevrolet, handling, 3, 35.8, 43.
41. (39) Coleman Pressley, Toyota, suspension, 2, 34.4, 40.
42. (34) Mark Green, Chevrolet, electrical, 2, 33, 37.
43. (21) Kevin Hamlin, Chevrolet, engine, 1, 31.4, 34.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 122.034 mph.
Time of Race: 1 hour, 38 minutes, 20 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.319 seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 17 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K.Busch 1-80; C.Edwards 81; B.Keselowski 82-88; K.Busch 89-117; C.Bowyer 118-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Busch, 2 times for 109 laps; C.Bowyer, 1 time for 83 laps; B.Keselowski, 1 time for 7 laps; C.Edwards, 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points
1. K.Busch, 4,549; 2. C.Edwards, 4,338; 3. Bra.Keselowski, 4,252; 4. J.Leffler, 3,749; 5. S.Wallace, 3,259; 6. J.Allgaier, 3,240; 7. J.Keller, 3,125; 8. M.Bliss, 3,120; 9. B.Gaughan, 3,063; 10. M.McDowell, 2,978.
NASCAR Driver Rating Formula
A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.
The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.
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