Bowyer wins series title, Edwards wins final race
Carl Edwards won the season finale Saturday,
but Clint Bowyer clinched the NASCAR Nationwide Series title by placing
fifth in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Bowyer’s strong finish Saturday denied Edwards’ attempt to capture a second straight title in the series.
Bowyer, who won only one of 35 races, needed to place eighth in Saturday’s race to hold on to his 56-point lead entering the race. Edwards came up 21 points short, but claimed his seventh Nationwide victory this season and 20th of his career.
“We’ve raced each other for a long time,” Bowyer said of Edwards. “We’re both from the Midwest and he’s good competition. He’s last year’s champion, and it feels great to be able to beat him.” Here what else he had to say in the post-race interview.
Edwards held off runner-up Kyle Busch, beating Busch to the finish line by .639 seconds and denying him what would have been a series record 11th victory this season.
“That’s a great win, to hold off the 18 (Busch), as strong as he’s been all season,” Edwards said after congratulating Bowyer. “If I’ve got to get beat by somebody, a dirt racer from Emporia, Kansas (Bowyer’s hometown) is one of the best.
“But we’ll be back next year, and I hope Clint will, too. There’s no shame in giving 100 percent and finishing second. That’s all we could do.” Hear what else Edwards had to say in his post-race interview.
Brad Keselowski ran third and claimed third in the final series standings. Jason Leffler finished fourth in Saturday’s race, followed by Bowyer, Scott Wimmer, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelly Bires and Joey Logano.
