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Bowyer wins at Talladega

Jenna Fryer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 2 months AGO
by Jenna Fryer
| October 24, 2011 9:00 PM

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Teamwork meant very little in the closing laps at Talladega Superspeedway.

Unless, of course, you were driving a Ford.

Clint Bowyer bailed on teammate Jeff Burton on the last lap of Sunday's race, pulling around him when the checkered flag was in sight to pick up his first win of the season and the 100th in the Sprint Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing.

"You hate that it comes down to that; it is what it is," shrugged Bowyer. "You owe it to your team, to your sponsors to go out and win the race. Unfortunately, it came down to that situation."

Burton and the RCR bunch understood that's how the game is played.

The grumbling was far behind the leaders, where Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne ditched Jeff Gordon because Bayne was part of a pact made by Ford drivers to only push fellow Ford drivers in an effort to help Roush Fenway Racing drivers Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth in the championship race.

Gordon was seventh on the final restart and thought Bayne was committed to pushing him over the last two laps. Instead, Bayne backed off, and Gordon, with no help, faded to 27th. An animated Bayne went immediately to Gordon's car after the race, then posted his thoughts on Twitter.

"I'm not happy about what this has become," he posted on Twitter in reference to Talladega's two-car drafting style and the reliance on partners.

"It's too premeditated. We should be able to go with whoever is around us. I would have rather pulled over and finished last than tell (Gordon) I would work with him and then be strong armed into bailing."

Gordon said he was deceived.

"The Fords made it very clear about what they were doing in working with one another," Gordon said. "So I didn't expect him to commit to me on the radio. I expected him to say, 'Man, I'm sorry, I can't.' And when he said, 'Yeah, I'm pushing you, we're good,' I believed him. I think they had a different plan."

Edwards, who came into the race up five points over Kevin Harvick, finished 11th and saw his lead swell to 14 points over Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth.

NASCAR Sprint Cup

Good Sam Club 500

Sunday

At Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega, Ala.

Lap length: 2.66 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (3) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 188 laps, 125 rating, 47 points, $260,558.

2. (25) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 188, 122.3, 43, $170,500.

3. (41) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 188, 82.6, 42, $160,833.

4. (16) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 188, 79.3, 41, $143,483.

5. (30) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 188, 107.9, 40, $135,964.

6. (26) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 188, 103.9, 39, $122,033.

7. (12) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 188, 107.4, 39, $143,433.

8. (31) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188, 65.2, 36, $134,000.

9. (23) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 188, 61.6, 36, $83,500.

10. (37) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 188, 63.8, 34, $94,825.

11. (9) Carl Edwards, Ford, 188, 57.2, 34, $128,866.

12. (7) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 188, 81.1, 32, $91,775.

13. (36) David Reutimann, Toyota, 188, 60.8, 31, $111,308.

14. (18) Greg Biffle, Ford, 188, 54.5, 31, $95,825.

15. (4) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 188, 70.1, 0, $81,325.

16. (38) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 188, 86.1, 0, $91,608.

17. (42) Casey Mears, Toyota, 188, 90.6, 27, $79,050.

18. (11) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 188, 99.6, 27, $121,836.

19. (19) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 188, 74.4, 26, $108,366.

20. (1) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 188, 64.6, 25, $93,250.

21. (17) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 188, 75.1, 0, $88,097.

22. (40) David Gilliland, Ford, 188, 73.3, 22, $77,175.

23. (15) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 188, 83, 22, $115,783.

24. (35) Joey Logano, Toyota, 188, 80.5, 20, $84,525.

25. (6) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 188, 57.6, 20, $84,225.

26. (2) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 188, 57.7, 19, $127,611.

27. (5) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 188, 59.3, 18, $112,461.

28. (8) David Ragan, Ford, 188, 87.8, 17, $81,250.

29. (39) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 184, 80.3, 16, $111,189.

30. (22) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, accident, 180, 79.1, 14, $98,745.

31. (24) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 179, 53.3, 13, $109,686.

32. (13) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 179, 66.9, 13, $121,786.

33. (34) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 175, 56, 12, $121,691.

34. (32) Terry Labonte, Ford, 175, 38, 10, $71,700.

35. (21) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, accident, 173, 48.7, 9, $97,870.

36. (14) Kurt Busch, Dodge, accident, 173, 76.4, 9, $115,950.

37. (43) Robby Gordon, Dodge, rear gear, 173, 50.9, 8, $71,250.

38. (10) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 172, 73.1, 7, $113,200.

39. (33) Andy Lally, Ford, accident, 162, 36.1, 6, $80,500.

40. (29) Michael McDowell, Toyota, clutch, 6, 30.1, 4, $70,860.

41. (27) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, rear gear, 4, 28.9, 0, $70,710.

42. (28) J.J. Yeley, Ford, wheel bearing, 3, 27.9, 2, $70,580.

43. (20) Kevin Conway, Toyota, vibration, 2, 26.8, 0, $70,964.

Top 12 in Points: 1. C.Edwards, 2,237; 2. M.Kenseth, 2,223; 3. Bra.Keselowski, 2,219; 4. T.Stewart, 2,218; 5. K.Harvick, 2,211; 6. Ky.Busch, 2,197; 7. J.Johnson, 2,187; 8. Ku.Busch, 2,185; 9. D.Earnhardt Jr., 2,163; 10. J.Gordon, 2,155; 11. D.Hamlin, 2,153; 12. R.Newman, 2,149.

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ARTICLES BY JENNA FRYER

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