Clint Bowyer picked the perfect time to win his first ever Nextel Cup race…the first race of The Chase at Loudon, New Hampshire which vaults him from 12th in the Chase standings to 4th.

Bowyer started from the pole in the Sylvania 300 and led the most laps to take his first victory in Nascar’s top series as the racing league kicked off its 10-race championship playoff.

Bowyer dominated the race at 1.06-mile (1.7-kilometer) New Hampshire International Speedway, leading 222 of 300 laps in the No. 07 Chevrolet Impala and beating second-place Jeff Gordon in the No. 24 Impala by 6.468 seconds. The 28-year-old Kansas native, in his 64th Nextel Cup start, moved to fourth from 12th in the playoff standings, called the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

“I was about to throw up for those last 30 laps, this is unbelievable,” Bowyer told Walt Disney Co.’s ABC after the race. “Hopefully, this proves that we earned a spot here and we’re here for a reason.”

Tony Stewart finished third in the No. 20 Impala and Kyle Busch was fourth in the No. 5 Impala. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five in the No. 1 Impala. Chevrolets took eight of the top 10 spots.

Matt Kenseth had the top Ford at seventh in the No. 17 Fusion, Ryan Newman had the fastest Dodge Avenger at ninth in the No. 12 and David Reutimann had the top Toyota at 26th in the No. 00 Camry.

Stay tuned for driver quotes and notes…

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:

FIN, ST, CAR, DRIVER, MAKE, SPONSOR, PTS/BNS, LAPS, STATUS

1 1 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 195/10 300 Running
2 18 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 170/0 300 Running
3 6 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 170/5 300 Running
4 12 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 165/5 300 Running
5 2 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 160/5 300 Running
6 4 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 150/0 300 Running
7 30 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 146/0 300 Running
8 15 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 147/5 300 Running
9 5 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Mobil 1 143/5 300 Running
10 21 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 134/0 300 Running
11 22 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 130/0 300 Running
12 11 99 Carl Edwards Ford Marriott Vacation Club 127/0 300 Running
13 9 16 Greg Biffle Ford Lumber Liquidators 124/0 300 Running
14 13 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 126/5 300 Running
15 14 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Express 118/0 300 Running
16 19 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 120/5 300 Running
17 8 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 112/0 299 Running
18 23 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 109/0 299 Running
19 38 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA 106/0 299 Running
20 25 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 103/0 299 Running
21 24 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 100/0 299 Running
22 26 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Trix / Lucky & Friends 97/0 299 Running
23 31 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 94/0 299 Running
24 17 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Sylvania / Menards 91/0 299 Running
25 3 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 88/0 299 Running
26 20 00 David Reutimann * Toyota Burger King 85/0 299 Running
27 33 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy 82/0 298 Running
28 36 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet FleetPride / Yellow 79/0 298 Running
29 37 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 76/0 298 Running
30 34 21 Ken Schrader Ford Little Debbie 78/5 297 Running
31 40 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam 70/0 297 Running
32 29 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Stanley Tools / Valvoline 67/0 297 Running
33 39 84 A.J. Allmendinger * Toyota Red Bull 64/0 297 Running
34 27 88 Kenny Wallace Ford Snickers 61/0 296 Running
35 10 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 58/0 296 Running
36 16 01 Regan Smith Chevrolet Principal Financial Group 55/0 296 Running
37 41 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Victory Junction Gang Camp 52/0 296 Running
38 7 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 49/0 295 Running
39 35 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s 46/0 295 Running
40 43 98 Boris Said Dodge Valvoline / Stanley Tools 43/0 292 Running
41 28 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet Lucas Oil / State Water Heaters 40/0 284 Running
42 32 40 David Stremme Dodge Energizer e2 Lithium 37/0 273 Running
43 42 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 34/0 265 Running