The entire front end of the car was crushed nearly to the engine block. The front clip was bent at a 45-degree angle. The drive train was hanging from one set of bolts. Four other cars involved in the multi-car accident were declared officially out, but while the race went on, Bowyer's crew had a mission.

They were bound and determined to do what it took to get that car back on the track, even if it was for the final lap.

"Without a doubt, this car shouldn't have been out there," Bowyer said. "With that amount of damage, we normally would have put it in the truck and quit. But that's not what this team is made out of, that's not what RCR is made out of. So I'm really proud of them."

The area in front of the Bowyer garage stall was a jumble of tools, wrenches, nuts, bolts, washers, hoses and plastic clips, as the crew used anything and everything to try and repair a car that intially looked unrepairable. Not only that, but they were under pressure to do it before the drop of the checkered flag.

"It took them three hours but I'm really proud of what they accomplished there," car owner Richard Childress said while the work was ongoing. "If we get out and make that one lap and finish the race, it's due to all these guys' hard work. It was totalled."

The first step was assessment, as the team made a visual inspection of what could be salvaged and what needed to be replaced. Then they commenced to tearing off the torn sheet metal, the busted radiator, the exhaust pipes, both A-arms and replacing the transmission. With more than a dozen team members, including some from the Childress organization, the car was stripped down to its basic parts, and then repair work began.

While one crewman worked to remove the transmission, another was on the right side of the car, using a torch to cut away some of the damaged frame. Three others were under the engine, feverishly working to replace oil and water lines. Yet others were replacing wheel assemblies and standing by with a new radiator. And Bowyer acted as a go-fer, helping chase down needed parts and tools.

With the new radiator in place, the crew thought they were ready to see if the engine would fire with 30 laps remaining, but oil began to spray onto the asphalt, necessitating more oil line repairs. Five laps later, the lines were deemed tight and the tires were bolted on, as Bowyer began to prepare for his return to the driver's seat.

As Kyle Busch crossed the start/finish line on Lap 166, Bowyer flipped the switch -- and amazingly, the engine coughed a couple of times and rumbled back to life. The team quickly checked tire alignments as well as they could, given the bent frame, and the radiator -- hanging periliously low to the ground -- was jacked up and lashed securely into place.

Then as Bowyer prepared to take the car for a leak check around the garage area, a Sprint Cup official came up to the front of the car and waved his arms. Officials from the team descended, explained the situation, and he relented.

"I knew what he meant," Bowyer said. "We just wanted to make a lap around the garage, make sure everything was going to be OK. We were just going to go out, complete the race and be done."

And on Lap 186, just as the rest of the field was preparing to take the white flag, the No. 33 Chevrolet returned to the track, ran the final two laps and kept Bowyer's streak alive. He's now at 82, which sets the modern record for races running at the finish, just two races behind the record held by Kevin Harvick. Harvick's streak was broken earlier this season when he crashed out of the Auto Club 500 in California.

"If we are able to beat that record, it's all about that," Bowyer said. "I'm really proud of them. I hate that the car got torn up that early but the guys worked their butts off and they got it back out there."

The accident, involving more than a quarter of the field, sent many of the top contenders to the garage with heavy damage, including the cars of Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Harvick. In addition, many other cars suffered minor damage while avoiding the crash.

The accident occurred heading into Turn 3 when Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth touched in the middle of the main pack, sending Gordon up the track into David Gilliland. The cars directly behind had no way to avoid the incident, which quickly blocked the racing surface. In all, at least 13 cars suffered significant damage, and several others were damaged enough to need pit service during the extended caution period.

Click here to visit NASCAR.com and read Mark Aumann's article in its entirety.