Alex Bowman, 20-year-old from Tucson, finished in third-place Saturday after avoiding two wrecks in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

Driving the #99 Florida Lottery Toyota Camry for RAB Racing, Saturday's finish was both RAB Racing and Bowman's highest at the speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

A blog post on Bowman's website describes the two accidents the rookie was able to avoid:

Following a late-race caution, crew chief Chris Rice made the call for fuel only, which put the No. 99 in front of the 13-car accident which occurred on Lap 117. Bowman set up for the green-white-checker finish in the eighth position. As the field made its way to the start-finish line on the final lap, a violent wreck erupted. In an effort to avoid the incident, Bowman darted into the frontstretch grass. Though his Toyota Camry suffered extensive damage, Bowman completed the race in the third position.

“I just have to thank everybody at RAB Racing,” said Bowman. “They gave me a great Toyota Camry. It was awesome to have Florida Lottery and Windows 8 on the car, but I just hope all of the fans are okay. I saw the fence there and I’ve heard that there’s some fans injured and I’m just sorry for all of those fans out there. My prayers are with their family and themselves. I’m just ready to move on to Phoenix and go out there and race short track style and not have deal with the two-car tandem.”

The NASCAR Nationwide Series continues in Phoenix this Saturday.

Bowman will be at Precision Toyota, 700 W. Wetmore, for a meet-and-greet Wednesday, Feb. 27 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.