Despite being seeded last in the Chase for the championship, Clint Bowyer turned the odds to his favor and recorded the first victory of his Cup career on Sunday by embarrassing the field at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he started from the pole and led 221 of 300 laps while beating Jeff Gordon to the finish line by over 6 seconds.

This win certainly turns the Emporia, Kansas native into a legitimate contender.

"Once you get into the Chase, you've got to go for broke," Bowyer said.

Bowyer started as the 12th seed, being the only driver in the Chase without a victory. He'd never ranked higher than third before, and had led just 196 laps in his Cup career. But he deservedly earned his spot in the title hunt with 12 top-10 finishes. Now he's got that much-desired win that pushed him up eight spots in the standings to fourth.

The only thing missing in Victory Lane was Bowyer’s car because he blew its engine during his burnout. Team owner Richard Childress was also missing as he had left for hunting trip in Mongolia.

"It was very different walking into Victory Lane," Bowyer said. "I've never done that before."
Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon crossed the finish line second and was followed by two-time series champion Tony Stewart. Kyle Busch ranked fourth closely followed by Martin Truex Jr., Johnson and Matt Kenseth as Chase drivers took the top seven spots.
Casey Mears was eighth, followed by Ryan Newman and J.J. Yeley.

The Chase opening day wasn’t a very good one for Carl Edwards (12th), Denny Hamlin (15th), Kevin Harvick (17th), Jeff Burton (18th) and Kurt Busch (25th). Although they all crossed the finish line, it's going to take top-10 finishes to decide this championship, and the competition looks very tough after a start like this one.

Johnson and Gordon are tied for the points lead with Stewart just 10 points back. Bowyer climbed eight spots and now ranks fourth with only 15 points out. Kyle Busch jumped four spots to fifth and is 35 points behind. Truex is sixth, 40 points back and Kenseth is seventh.

"It's fun to watch guys get their first wins," Tony Stewart said. "You recognize that somebody's worked that hard for that accomplishment and he's going to have a lot of pride, knowing he finally got that first Cup win.