Bowyer moves on from last year’s penalty

Clint Bowyer put the trophy from last year’s victory at Loudon, N.H., in his house.

The rest of his memories from that weekend, well, they’re not so good.

Bowyer’s winning car in the Chase opener flunked inspection and NASCAR levied crippling penalties that ended his Sprint Cup championship hopes days after he had positioned himself as a top contender.

The 150-point penalty from his September infraction was so devastating that not even another Chase race victory at Talladega could budge him out of last place in the 12-driver field.

But that trying episode is far from Bowyer’s focus in his New Hampshire return this weekend – even as he’s pestered with reminders of his fantastic-to-flop tale.

Bowyer is stuck in 12th place again, a spot that, thanks to NASCAR’s revamped points system, puts him outside the Chase field.

“This is a crucial time for us,” Bowyer said. “We’re still within reaching distance of the cars in front of us, so this is a good time to get things pointed back in the right direction points-wise.”

There are eight races remaining until the Chase field is set, giving Bowyer time to make a move.

The 32-year-old Bowyer, who is eligible for free agency at the end of this season, hits a milestone today when he makes his 200th career Cup start. He’s led more than 400 laps at New Hampshire and has two wins.

“He just has a kind of unique feel and setup for this particular race track as to what he likes in the car,” RCR teammate Kevin Harvick said.

Nationwide

Kyle Busch sped into auto racing history, becoming the third NASCAR driver to win 100 races.

Busch’s victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway also tied him with Mark Martin for first place in career Nationwide Series victories with 49. Busch has 22 wins in Sprint Cup and 29 in the Trucks Series.

Richard Petty is NASCAR’s career leader with 200 wins and David Pearson is second with 106. Petty won all of his races at the Cup level. Pearson won 105 races in Cup and one in Nationwide. Busch has 100 wins spread over NASCAR’s top three national series.

Busch, the 2009 Nationwide champion, won for the sixth time this season.

Trucks Series

Matt Crafton held off a charging Austin Dillon to win the NASCAR Trucks Series race at Newton, Iowa, snapping a 79-race winless streak.

Dillon led for most of the race, but fell behind after a late pit stop. He quickly moved back into second and went side by side down the stretch with Crafton, who was able to hang on for his second career win.

Pole sitter David Mayhew was third, followed by Johnny Sauter and Joey Coulter.