| Clint Bowyer:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Clint Bowyer clinched the 2008 Nationwide Series championship with a smooth fifth-place run in the Ford 300 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. Bowyer's chief rival, Carl Edwards, won the event but wasn't able to make up enough points due to Bowyer's solid run.
"Man, it's just incredible," an overcome Bowyer said afterward. "It makes you think back to how it all started. You know, working in a body shop in Kansas and trying to figure out what was the next move. You're out of money, your parents gave up three retirements to get you where you're at, and, you know, it was kind of the end of the road.
"Out of nowhere, my cell phone rings and it was Richard. It was just unbelievable to think back how my career started with the race in Nashville and then winning my first race in the Nationwide series at Nashville.
"You know, to be able to win our first championship with Dan (Deeringhoff, crew chief) and all the guys on the BB&T Chevrolet and all our partners, very proud to be able to do this for Richard. Kind of feels like giving back for taking a chance on me, and finally it paid off.
"It took him a while, took me a while, but I finally had a chance, an opportunity to give back to him and just really proud of everybody at RCR, all the guys on the BB&T, Camping World, Snap-on Chevrolet, everybody we're strong."
Bowyer recorded 29 top 10s in 35 Nationwide Series races this season. He notched one win and won the title by 21 points. Scott Wimmer:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Scott Wimmer manned the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy for one final time in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Wimmer qualified 27th but drove through the field in impressive fashion and finished sixth.
It was Wimmer's 13th top-10 run in only 23 Nationwide events this year. He finished 17th in the point standings. Kelly Bires:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Kelly Bires completed his rookie campaign with a ninth-place run in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Bires qualified 21st for the event and progressed through the field in his No. 47 Ford.
Bires recorded six top 10s throughout the season and finished an impressive 13th in the Nationwide Series point standings. Ryan Newman:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Ryan Newman jumped in the No. 33 Kevin Harvick, Inc. Chevy for the first time this season in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Newman qualified 19th and advanced to 11th by race's end. He led for a total of 21 laps throughout the day. Steve Wallace:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Steve Wallace capped his first full season on the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a solid 15th-place showing in the Ford 300 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. Wallace qualified 22nd for the event and survived a late-race scare when Scott Lagasse's car got into his door. Wallace was able to drive away from the incident and record his 11th top-15 run of the season.
Wallace finished the 2008 season 14th in the point standings. Bobby Hamilton, Jr.:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Bobby Hamilton, Jr. concluded his 2008 Nationwide Series season with a 21st-place finish in the Ford 300 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. Driving the No. 25 Ed Rensi-owned Ford, Hamilton qualified 35th but was able to drive into 21st at race's end for a lead-lap finish.
Hamilton finished the season 15th in Nationwide Series points. Justin Allgaier:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Justin Allgaier made his fourth start of the 2008 Nationwide Series season for Penske Racing. Allgaier qualified 26th but was battling a tight condition in his car.
After the crew corrected the issue, the car went to the loose side, and on lap 191, a tire went down and he hit the wall. The damage was too severe and Allgaier was forced to retire the machine. He finished 28th.
"We battled the handling all night," Allgaier said after the event. "It wasn't the way we wanted to end the season. I just hate it for those guys on this Penske Truck Rental Dodge; they worked to get the changes made and get me back out on the track. We just fell eight laps short of a finish. We'll go back to the shop and look forward to returning for a successful 2009 season." Marcos Ambrose:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Marcos Ambrose finished his second Nationwide Series season with a disappointing 31st-place finish. Ambrose started 25th but cut a tire down and slapped the wall. He was not able to continue after the incident.
"I got a bit of panel damage early in the race, which made life tough behind the wheel and then we lost a lap trying to fix the damage in the pits, so we were very much behind the eight ball from early on in the day, Ambrose explained. "From there we rode around and tried to keep out of trouble. Unfortunately with about 20 laps to go I got loose and brushed the wall, which caused some damage and cut a tire down sending me back into the wall.
"Today wasn't quite the way I wanted to finish off my two-year stint in the No. 59 Kingsford Ford," Ambrose said. "But on the positive side of things, our goal at the start of the year was to win our first race and to finish in the top 10 in points and we've now achieved both of those goals.
"While today wasn't the best way to finish the season, I think we can look at the year as a good one for everyone who has supported us."
Ambrose enjoyed a 2008 season that witnessed his first Nationwide Series victory to accompany five additional top-10 runs. He finished 10th in the point standings. Jeff Burton:
Nov., 15, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Jeff Burton started fourth in the season-ending Ford 300 from Homestead-Miami Speedway and took the lead on lap 22. He held the top spot for 17 laps but was involved in an accident on the backstretch on lap 76. He was forced to retire his Richard Childress Racing Chevy at that point and finished 35th. Kevin Harvick:
Nov., 14, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Kevin Harvick made his third Truck Series start of the 2008 season in the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday. Harvick qualified his self-owned Chevy third and led 16 laps en route to a solid third-place finish.
"We had a good night," Harvick said. "Truck was not as good the last run as what it had been the previous couple runs before that, and we got a little bit off and everybody pitted for whatever reason. I felt like we had a good enough truck to challenge for it, and we got in a good little battle there and wound up third. It was a good night for us."
A late-race caution on lap 126 brought pit strategy into the mix. Harvick and others remained on the track, opting for track position over fresh tires. He restarted third and, following a caution that took the race into a green-white-checker finish, he finished there.
"These things are fun to drive, and obviously they punch such a big hole in the air that you can pull back up to people," Harvick said about the trucks. "The trucks are, you can kind of manhandle the things and make them do what you want them to do and get away with it. They just have a great aero package and the way that the rules are in these things really promotes good racing." Ron Hornaday:
Nov., 14, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Ron Hornaday entered the Truck Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway three points shy of a championship. Hornaday qualified his Kevin Harvick-owned Chevy fourth for the Ford 200 and quickly went into the lead. After leading 37 laps Hornaday experienced radio problems, not able to hear his crew chief or spotter. When a caution on lap 126 flew with Hornaday running second, he pitted his truck when others stayed out. He dropped to 13th because of the stop and, although he drove up through the field, could only advance to eighth. Points leader Johnny Benson ran seventh, and that's where the two remained until the checkered flag waved.
Benson won the title, with Hornaday seven points in arrears.
"Awesome day for us until that last call," Hornaday said. "We've watched many races Kyle Busch puts on four tires and goes around the outside of everybody. Great call. We just didn't know all them guys were going to put two on and it put us pretty far back.
"Galant effort from Camping World Chevrolet. Toyota has got big, big rear view mirrors because they did a lot of good blocking." Keven Wood:
Nov., 14, 2008 | Homestead, Fla. -- Keven Wood qualified his Wood Brothers Ford 28th for the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Although he battled handling issues throughout the event, he managed to stay on the lead lap until late, when the loose condition forced him to pit. The caution flag waved as he exited the pits and forced him one lap down.
He finished 29th.
"It was an up-and-down night," Wood said. "It wasn't too bad for my first mile-and-a-half (track). I had fun tonight. We made a mistake there on the last pit stop. I just couldn't drive it. I had something loose; I'm not sure what it was. There was a vibration and I about wrecked coming off of four. I had to pit with 15 laps to go and then a caution came out just after that. You just never know when you can catch a break like that. It didn't feel safe, so I brought it in. I'm proud of my guys on the Aquasun Motorsports Ford F-150. They did a great job this weekend getting the truck ready for me. I can't thank them enough for all their hard work." |
