NASCAR’s Clint Bowyer learned his trade on the dirt tracks of the mid-west and that experience came in handy Wednesday night as the Richard Childress Racing driver held off several challenges to win the Prelude to the Dream all-star dirt Late Model race at Eldora Speedway.

Bowyer led all 30 laps but was able to hold off hard charges from J.J. Yeley and Aric Almirola to win the charity event featuring elite from all of motor racing.

“It’s just so much fun to be able to come here and compete,” said Bowyer. “What an awesome racetrack. I’ve always loved this place and I’m very proud of Tony Stewart and everybody behind him that makes this event awesome. There’s a lot of hard work to put on something like this, and we are very lucky to have him put forth the effort.”

After finishing second in the past two Prelude to the Dream events, Bowyer won his first Prelude triumph by .531 of a second over Yeley, a former USAC champion who has logged numerous laps at Eldora the racetrack owned by NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart. Stewart finished the night 20th.

“We had another first-time winner tonight. That’s what the fun part is,” said Stewart. “Watching Marcos Ambrose win his heat race and Jason Leffler win his heat race in their first time being here – that’s the stuff that makes you smile, and it’s fun to watch all these guys have a good time.”

The event was shown live on live on HBO Pay-Per-View®, with the net proceeds from the telecast supporting four of the nation’s top children’s hospitals.

The race was a team event. There was still an individual race winner in Bowyer, but there was also a race within the race, with the field broken up into four teams, each representing a children’s hospital:

•      Team Levine: Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Bill Elliott, David Reutimann, Austin Dillon, Ray Evernham and Cruz Pedregon.

•      Team Atlanta: Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Bowyer, Ken Schrader, David Gilliland, Leffler and Ron Capps.

•      Team St. Louis: Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Justin Allgaier, Kenny Wallace, Ron Hornaday and Ricky Carmichael.

•      Team Dallas: Tony Stewart, Tony Kanaan, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Ambrose, Almirola and Yeley.

Each hospital received a donation, with the payout breakdown as follows:

•      Winning team received 30 percent of net proceeds raised from the pay-per-view telecast.

•      Second-place team received 25 percent of net proceeds raised from the pay-per-view telecast.

•      Third- and fourth-place teams each received 20 percent of net proceeds raised from the pay-per-view telecast.

The finishing positions of the top-five drivers from each team were added together, with the lowest team score winning 30 percent of the net money raised. The cumulative efforts of Busch (fourth), Allgaier (fifth), Carmichael (sixth) and Kahne (10th) put Team St. Louis on top. Team Atlanta finished second, while Team Dallas and Team Levine finished third and fourth, respectively. As a result, Team Atlanta will receive 25 percent of the net money raised, and Team Dallas and Team Levine will each receive 20 percent of the net money raised.

Prelude to the Dream results
Results with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):