Edwards wins at Homestead; Bowyer takes title

After already doing his famous backflip, Carl Edwards celebrated his NASCAR Nationwide Series Ford 300 win Saturday in Victory Lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Carl Edwards won the battle, but Clint Bowyer won the war.

Edwards took the checkered flag in the Ford 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, depriving runner-up Kyle Busch of a record 11th victory in a single season.

But Edwards couldn't put enough distance between his No. 60 Ford and the No. 2 Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer, who claimed his first NASCAR Nationwide championship with a fifth-place finish. Bowyer entered the race with a 56-point lead over Edwards and won the title by 21 points.

"We've raced each other for a long time," Bowyer said of Edwards, who won the NASCAR Nationwide championship last year. "He's from the Midwest (Columbia, Mo.). He's last year's champion, and it feels great to be able to beat him."

Edwards, who won his seventh race of the season and the 20th of his career, beat Busch to the finish line by .639 seconds.

"That's a great win, to hold off the 18 (Busch), as strong as he's been all season," said Edwards, who congratulated Bowyer on his championship. "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."

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.

Logano's 10th-place result was enough to secure the owners' championship for Joe Gibbs Racing, which used four different drivers in the No. 20 Toyota this year. Logano, Busch, Hamlin and Tony Stewart combined for nine wins in the car, with Stewart accounting for five. The No. 20 car finished 12 points ahead of the No. 2 Chevrolet, driven exclusively by Bowyer.

Notes: Kenny Wallace started his 418th NASCAR Nationwide race, breaking a tie with Tommy Houston for second on the all-time list. Wallace finished 33rd… Though Landon Cassill didn't race Saturday, he claimed Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. The other rookie contender, Bryan Clauson, entered the race six points behind Cassill but scraped the wall, fell out of the event after 157 of 200 laps and finished 34th.

Results

FIN

ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 2 60 Carl Edwards Ford Save-A-Lot 190/5 200 Running
2 11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Z-Line Designs 180/10 200 Running
3 6 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet U.S. Navy 170/5 200 Running
4 15 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips / Comcast 160/0 200 Running
5 13 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet BB&T 155/0 200 Running
6 27 21 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Prilosec OTC / Wal-Mart PE 200 Running
7 8 32 Denny Hamlin Toyota Dollar General 146/0 200 Running
8 7 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard 142/0 200 Running
9 21 47 Kelly Bires Ford Tom's Snacks 143/5 200 Running
10 1 20 Joey Logano Toyota DLP HDTV 139/5 200 Running
11 19 33 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Christopher Columbus High School / Camping World 135/5 200 Running
12 30 00 Josh Wise Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 127/0 200 Running
13 33 99 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 124/0 200 Running
14 10 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 121/0 200 Running
15 22 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches 118/0 200 Running
16 28 64 David Stremme Chevrolet LoanStar Title Loans 115/0 200 Running
17 12 42 Juan Montoya Dodge POWERade 112/0 200 Running
18 34 7 Mike Wallace Toyota GEICO 109/0 200 Running
19 5 17 Jamie McMurray Ford CitiFinancial 106/0 200 Running
20 31 9 Chase Miller * Dodge Motorola / Verizon Wireless 103/0 200 Running
21 35 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Ford Team Rensi Motorsports 100/0 200 Running
22 14 27 Jason Keller Ford Scott Tissue / Kleenex 97/0 199 Running
23 3 6 David Ragan Ford Discount Tire 94/0 198 Running
24 38 4 Patrick Sheltra Dodge Briggs Equipment / Case / Quality Turf 91/0 198 Running
25 41 01 Danny Efland Chevrolet JoeTheRacer.com 88/0 195 Running
26 36 81 D.J. Kennington Dodge STP Tools 85/0 194 Running
27 37 22 Marc Davis Dodge Supercuts 82/0 194 Running
28 26 12 Justin Allgaier Dodge Penske Truck Rental 79/0 192 Accident
29 43 0 David Green Chevrolet Lowery Plumbing 76/0 192 Running
30 18 150 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet Jeremy Clements Racing 73/0 182 Ignition
31 25 59 Marcos Ambrose Ford Kingsford Tailgate at Home 70/0 178 Accident
32 40 24 Eric McClure Chevrolet Hefty Odorblock 67/0 169 Running
33 24 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet U.S. Border Patrol 64/0 168 Accident
34 9 40 Bryan Clauson * Dodge Fastenal 66/5 157 Engine
35 4 29 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express 63/5 148 Running
36 29 103 Michael Annett Toyota HYPE 55/0 138 Accident
37 20 111 Scott Lagasse Jr. Chevrolet America's Incredible Pizza Company 52/0 100 Accident
38 39 161 Brandon Whitt Ford Specialty Racing 49/0 16 Drive Train
39 16 331 Kenny Hendrick Chevrolet INTERUSH.net 46/0 12 Handling
40 42 52 Brad Teague Chevrolet Means Racing 43/0 10 Overheating
41 23 149 Kertus Davis Chevrolet In Memory of Kenneth Campbell 40/0 9 Vibration
42 17 90 Terry Cook Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 37/0 5 Vibration
43 32 91 Todd Bodine Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 34/0 4 Brakes