Clint Bowyer Wins Bank of America 500 at Charlotte
Clint Bowyer won his third race of the season and his first in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship at the Bank of America 500 on Saturday Night.
The race saw 20 lead changes among eight different leaders. With seven laps to go there were only six cars on the lead lap, and all of them had to deal with conserving fuel. Bowyer held off Denny Hamlin, who was closing on him fast but couldn't quite catch up before the checkered flag flew. Jimmie Johnson finished in third, Greg Biffle in fourth and Kyle Busch fifth.
The big story of the week was the absence of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was sidelined with a concussion. Regan Smith drove in his place and had a strong outing staying in the top 10 until his engine blew at lap 61.
Points leader Brad Keselowski led the most laps, but he ran out of fuel at lap 275. He now leads the Sprint Cup standings by just seven points.
Sprint Cup Chase Standings:
- Brad Keselowski, 2214 points
- Jimmie Johnson, 2207
- Denny Hamlin, 2199
- Clint Bowyer, 2186
- Kasey Kahne, 2179
- Greg Biffle, 2171
- Martin Truex Jr., 2165
- Tony Stewart, 2164
- Jeff Gordon, 2164
- Kevin Harvick, 2158
- Matt Kenseth, 2147
- Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2128