Starting the NASCAR Nationwide Series Subway Jalapeno 250 from the pole, Clint Bowyer claimed Richard Childress’ first victory of the season with a fireworks show behind him in turn 4.

Leading 48 of the 102 laps run, Bowyer’s No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet was no doubt the best car on the track.

"I can't begin to tell you what this place means to me, my family," Bowyer stated. "Everything you ever work for is to come to Daytona, let alone win a race here ... The wolves were coming, and [crew chief] Doug [Randolph] made a good call to stay out and not take tires.

"The 18, Kyle gave me a good push right there at the end. Luckily, the caution came out. Who knows what would have happened in that last lap ... It's been tough this year. It's been tough on him [Childress]. It's been tough on everybody. I'm real proud of everybody at RCR and ECR [Earnhardt-Childress Racing], the engine program -- this is pretty special."

Kyle Busch followed Bowyer across the line to earn a second place finish. Passing Carl Edwards late for the runner-up spot, Busch has extended his lead in the Nationwide Series point standings to 172 points.

“The car was really good on long runs. (Bowyer) had about the best car and had the most motor,” noted Busch. “We had to settle for second, but it was a hard-fought second so we’ll take it.”

Edwards looked to be poised to take the late lead, but a strong restart on Bowyer’s behalf held the 2007 series champion back. Edwards was later passed by the No. 18, forcing him to settle with a third place finish.

"At the end, I didn't want that caution to come out because Clint was a getting so loose I was thinking this is going to be good," Edwards stated. "If we get Clint moved over that would be great. He did a great job on the restart. We couldn't get back up there."

Joey Logano finished fourth, with Kasey Kahne rounding out the top-5 in his first Nationwide Series start of the season.

Sixth through tenth was Brad Keselowski, Brian Vickers, Justin Allgaier, David Ragan and Kevin Harvick.

Next weekend the Nationwide Series will battle it out in the ‘Windy City’ in the Dollar General 300 Powered by Coca-Cola at Chicagoland Speedway.

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