In Sunday afternoon’s Toyota Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at the road course in Sonoma, Calif., Camry driver Clint Bowyer collected his first victory as a member of Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR), as well as his inaugural victory driving a Toyota.
Bowyer, who joined MWR at the beginning of the 2012 season to drive a Camry, dominated the race at the 1.99-mile, 11 turn road course. He led the field three times for a race-high 71 laps (of 112) in the MWR No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry.
Bowyer started sixth and moved into first-place for the first time on lap 25 -- leading the field for nine circuits. The Emporia, Kansas-native then led again for 23 laps (48 to 70), before being at the front of the field for the final 39 laps (74 to 112) -- including a green-white-checkered finish -- en route to victory lane.
Rather than drive his Camry into the Sonoma winner’s circle, Bowyer walked into the first-place ceremony after his victory ‘burnout’ left him short of enough fuel to make the drive. It was his only misstep of the day.
“Super excited for everybody involved to be in victory lane with this group so early in the season,” said Bowyer, after the race. “It’s a dream come true. I’m very proud of all our partners, especially everybody at MWR. To switch teams like I did was a huge risk and a chance for me, and it was obviously a chance for me to showcase my talents. I’m proud of everybody back home at the shop -- thank you guys for building us real good race cars. What a wonderful opportunity at this stage in my career to make this jump -- and make it work. I’m proud of everybody -- Brian Pattie (crew chief) and everybody on this 5-hour ENERGY Toyota. This is just awesome.”
Bowyer’s MWR teammates also had strong showings in the first NSCS road race of the season. Brian Vickers registered a fourth-place finish in the No. 55 Camry and Martin Truex Jr. ran among the leaders throughout the race and led the field for 15 laps -- before he ended up 22nd after contact on the track late in the final laps.
“We’re all working together at MWR,” added Bowyer. “That’s something that I’m very proud of. All these guys work together and the crew chiefs and the engineering staff -- and everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) -- that’s what it takes. All of our cars ran good today and it’s because everybody works together.”
The victory also moves Bowyer closer to securing a spot in the Chase championship playoff.
“It’s huge towards the Chase and everything else,” added Bowyer. “This is big for our team’s confidence level. It’s a young organization that’s going to be in this sport a long time and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
It marks the first NSCS win of the 2012 season for Bowyer and the first NSCS victory of the year for MWR. It was also Bowyer’s ninth top-10 finish of 2012.
In addition, Bowyer’s victory was the fifth win for a Camry driver this season. Besides Bowyer picking up the Sonoma first-place trophy, Denny Hamlin has two wins (Phoenix and Kansas), Kyle Busch has one victory (Richmond) and Joey Logano also has one win (Pocono).
Since the start of the 2007 season, Toyota drivers have now accumulated 44 wins and 37 poles.
Logano (10th-place) was the third Camry driver to register a top-10 at Sonoma.
Other Camry drivers in the field included Busch (17th), Bobby Labonte (24th), Landon Cassill (31st), JJ Yeley (33rd), Hamlin (35th), Travis Kvapil (36th), Chris Cook (42nd) and Joe Nemechek (43rd).
In the unofficial NSCS point standings, Bowyer moved into seventh-place -- 67 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. Hamlin (eighth) and Truex are also among the top-10 in the standings.
The Sprint Cup Series returns to action next weekend at Kentucky Speedway, June 30.
Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions -- at Sonoma, Calif.
1st, CLINT BOWYER
4th, BRIAN VICKERS
10th, JOEY LOGANO
17th, KYLE BUSCH
22nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
24th, BOBBY LABONTE
31st, LANDON CASSILL
33rd, JJ YELEY
35th, DENNY HAMLIN
36th, TRAVIS KVAPIL
42nd, CHRIS COOK
43rd, JOE NEMECHEK
Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings -– following Sonoma, Calif.*
7th, CLINT BOWYER, 529 points
8th, DENNY HAMLIN, 523 points
9th, MARTIN TRUEX JR., 520 points
12th, KYLE BUSCH, 459 points
15th, JOEY LOGANO, 441 points
*unofficial point standings
Source: Toyota Racing
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