Clint Bowyer celebrates with his crew in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Clint Bowyer won Saturday’s Dover 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway, dominating the second half of the race in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Bowyer, the reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series champion, won his second series race of the season and the seventh of his career, taking the lead on Lap 118 and never looking back.
Kyle Busch was a force early on, as he was out front for 109 of the first 117 laps. But an inability to communicate with his crew cost him dearly, as he finished fourth behind Bowyer, veteran Mike Bliss and Brad Keselowski. Carl Edwards completed the top five.
Points leader Busch started from the pole in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but with his crew unable to hear him on the radio. Busch broke clear of second-qualifier Edwards at the drop of the green flag, opening a comfortable lead right away, with Busch’s teammate Hamlin taking over third.
By Lap 25, there were just 24 cars on the lead lap, with seven cars having already parked by this point. At the 30-lap mark, Busch led Edwards by 3.366 seconds, followed by Scott Speed, Bowyer and Bliss. They stayed in that order at Lap 50, with Busch’s lead 3.963 seconds by that point.
Just 15 cars were on the lead lap by Lap 55, with the race staying green, the teams hoping to make it to the halfway point at Lap 100 before the advancing rain moved in.
The leaders began making green-flag pits stops on Lap 75, Speed being the first of the front-runners in. Busch pitted from the top spot on Lap 80, temporarily sacrificing a 5.211-second lead over Edwards, who brought his Ford in one lap later. Keselowski briefly took the lead over Martin Truex Jr. and Justin Allgaier, none of whom had pitted.
Keselowski missed pit road the first time and then got a pit-road speeding penalty, while Allgaier stalled on pit road, losing four laps. So with the stops cycled through on Lap 90, Busch led Bowyer by 7.225 seconds. Then it was Edwards, Speed and Bliss.
At the halfway point of the race, the top five remained unchanged, though Bowyer had trimmed Busch’s lead to 4.560 seconds. By this point, just 11 cars were on the lead lap.
The first caution flew for debris on Lap 109, with most of the lead-lap cars coming in for four tires and fuel. Busch held sway on pit road over Edwards, Speed and Bowyer.
Busch opted for the outside lane on the Lap 115 restart, and left Edwards in the dust on the restart, with Bowyer going past Speed and Edwards to take second a lap later.
