Bowyer wins the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]Clint Bowyer saved enough fuel over the final 56 laps to win Saturday nights NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“Who thought in a million years I’d walk into the situation I’ve walked into?” Bowyer said in victory lane.

Bowyer beat Denny Hamlin by .417 seconds in route to his third win of the season and the first in the chase.

Jimmie Johnson finished third, Greg Biffle fourth and Kyle Busch finished fifth.

Points leader Brad Keselowski, who ran out of fuel before his final pit stop, finished 11th and now holds a 7 point advantage over Johnson in the series standings.

“It’s blackjack, you’re not going to win every hand. When you got a bad deal you have to try not to have too many chips on the table.” Keselowski said.

Across the United States, homecoming is a traditionally celebrated at high schools and colleges through the month of October. Race weekend in Charlotte has the same feel. After all, the Charlotte, NC area is home to many of the teams and the fall race is an opportunity for the teams to gather with old friends and enjoy the weekend.

Charlotte found itself in the middle of homecoming, without it’s king. On Thursday, the news came that fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. would miss the next two races. The loss of Earnhardt felt like losing the star quarterback the day prior to the big game.

Second String

Regan Smith was given the opportunity to drive the No.88 car during the absence of Earnhardt. Smith was the last to take the track on Thursday during the first practice session due to the changes that had to be made to the car. Watching Smith in his garage, I saw the image of a young man waiting anxiously to open his Christmas presents. It was clear that he was eager to go.

This was not a good weekend for the legion of 88 fans. Smith qualified 26^th for the Bank of America 500 and quickly made his way through the field, moving into the top ten and appearing to be poised go further, when the engine blew. One was left to wonder what could have been.

“Needed one more stop and I think we would have had it dialed in and then just chased the weather from that point on. It’s disappointing. It’s a good team, it’s a good car and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports does a great job. I’m looking forward to next week.” Smith said.

The Points

I would love to see Nascar tweak the points system used in the Chase. As it currently stands, it is extremely difficult for a team to recover from a bad weekend. Jeff Gordon is a prime example. Gordon suffered a bad day on the first race of the Chase in Chicago. Since then he has continued the solid run that he had the last six weeks of the season, which got him into the playoffs. However, the hole was too deep.

My recommendation is that during the Chase, the 12 drivers that are competing, are given points differently than the rest of the field. There would only be 12 points available, and only 3 points for a victory bonus. The Chase driver that has the worst finish in the event but would be scored the equivalent of twelfth versus, say 35^th. This would allow drivers to dig their way out after a bad day and would hopefully have more drivers eligible going to Homestead.

The Track

Every time I spend time at the track, I find interesting things and lots of interesting observations –

Grit Chips – Samples were given out of Jeff Foxworthy’s new Grit Chips. Chips made from grits. What else could a southern boy love? The chips are glouten free, for those that are limited in their diets, and are delicious. I was told they began shipping to stores this past week – look for them.

Entertainment – Charlotte Motor Speedway always does a great job with their pre-race entertainment and Saturday was no different. Big & Rich got the crowd fired up and it was interesting to see daredevil Nik Wallenda walk a tight rope from the top of the grandstands to victory lane. However, for me, honoring America’s finest is always a highlight of any weekend at the track. No thank you ever seems sufficient when you see those that have given so much, including the members of the Wounded Warriors project that played a big part in the pre-race.

Fans – The fans are what racing is all about. Sports like to claim thy have the best fans, but I would argue with any of them when it comes to Nascar. Race fans are like no other. They love to have a good time, but I find them very generous as well. I am always amazed when I am working around the track how many will offer a cold drink on hot day or something to eat. For those of us that do this – thank you to each and everyone one of you!