Native Kansan Clint Bowyer, from Emporia, held off a fast-charging Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch in a green-white-checkered finish at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma Sunday for his first Sprint Cup win of the season. It was also Bowyer's first win at a NASCAR road-course venue, and his first victory in his first season with Michael Waltrip Racing.
Bowyer led or was among the leaders for most of the race, but he had to hang on in the final laps after only the second caution of the race on lap 106 of the scheduled 107-lap race forced an overtime session. The driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota now has four top-10 finishes in his last four races, and the win moved him up two places, to seventh, in the drivers' standings.
It was Bowyer's sixth career win in the Sprint Cup Series and his first checkered flag since Talladega in October last season. He led three times for a total of 71 laps at Sonoma, including the final 39 laps
In seven starts at Infineon Raceway, one of the two road courses on the Sprint Cup schedule every season, Bowyer has five top-10 finishes and four top-fives.