Bowyer hung tough to clinch first Nationwide title (cont'd)

And Bowyer's hearty first national series title marked the latest achievement for Richard Childress Racing's Nationwide Series program, which with its fifth championship in the last six years -- two drivers' and three owners' -- has been the best in the series.

It was particularly satisfying for Childress, who previously had celebrated his last drivers' title, which came with the owners' honors, in 2006 with Kevin Harvick.

“

At the end of the year, to be able to sit back and enjoy all of the hard work that you've been busting your butt all season for -- to see it finally having a purpose, and to be able to look up on your mantle and see a championship trophy is pretty cool.

”

-- CLINT BOWYER

"I can't say enough about Clint Bowyer," Childress said. "I see in him what I've seen in some other drivers that were great and I think he's got everything it takes to be the great one. I'm really proud for him and his family. It's neat to see a family atmosphere, his brothers and his mother and father and everybody around, and I'm just really proud of it."

It gave Bowyer a good going-away present to the series where he's raced full-time for three seasons and finished second and third in 2005 and 2006, respectively, before he raced part-time in 2007 while contending for the Cup Series rookie of the year title.

Bowyer had become the "typical Clint Bowyer," that is, smiling a lot, immediately after the Homestead finale sealed his 21-point margin on Edwards. And it only continued on Friday when he said he couldn't imagine having a better job than he did.

"What's not a job about what I do?" he said, rhetorically. "It's the racing, because that's not a job, it's a passion."

And that made Bowyer's championship realization, after less than a week, just as simple.

"Achieving your goal is the immediate benefit of winning this championship," Bowyer said, his smile never quitting. "Just being able to heave a big sigh of relief, because I'd achieved one of my biggest goals, was a big part of it.

"I'd won championships, several of them, but I enjoyed having that goal to chase after all year, because if you're not racing for a championship or racing for points, you're just racing to go out and win the race. That's a lot of fun to do, but it's fun to be able to race for a championship.

"And at the end of the year, to be able to sit back and enjoy all of the hard work that you've been busting your butt all season for -- to see it finally having a purpose, and to be able to look up on your mantle and see a championship trophy is pretty cool."

If Bowyer looked at Memphis Motorsports Park, the 33rd race of the season where he battled an ill-handling car all day and finished 16th, three laps down to Edwards, who won and gained 80 points; as his near-Waterloo; Phoenix one race later saved his championship.

Out west, Bowyer was involved in an early accident, damaged his car, lost a lap but through teamwork, persevered and finished fifth. Rather than losing another big chunk of points, he lost only 35; and he and Childress agreed the difference was critical.

"I looked at [Phoenix] as something that wins championships -- I really believe that," Bowyer said, obviously after-the-fact, but accurately. "We were down and out. Man, that could have put us out and lost this thing very easily -- but the guys kept their cool; we bounced back, battled back and got a top-five out of something that I didn't think we couldn't be in the top 10 with."

"Phoenix, I think was probably the turning point for winning the championship," Childress said. "Those guys got in there and dug and dug, and that car was killed in the front end. If we ever had luck on our side, it was that day [because] we didn't lose a radiator.

"Clint drove it back to the front, and a couple more laps might have won the race with it. I think that was a big turning point in winning the championship, being able to come [to Homestead] instead of being 20 points ahead, being [56 ahead]." (Continued)