Bowyer Headed In Right Direction
In 2007, as the Case for the [then] Nextel Cup dwindled down and was coming to a close, I pretty much berated Clint Bowyer at every possible opportunity. I just didn’t think that he belonged in the top tier with the Hendricks Motorsports duo of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, and I sure as hell didn’t think he was better than the majority of the other drivers in the Chase. In fact, a big part of me didn’t feel as though Bowyer belonged in the Chase to begin with – and, yet, there he sat third in points. Man, how much one offseason and a few races can change your view on things.
As Clint struggled through the first three events of 2008, I thought to myself, “Man, I was right on the money with this cat.” He finished 24th at Daytona, 19th at California, and 28th in Vegas, despite the fact that his Richard Childress Racing teammates remained very fast and consistent.
Since then, however, Bowyer has turned a massive corner and appears to be headed in the right direction. He’s currently riding the streak of (5) consecutive top-ten finishes Sprint Cup Series, and has (6) Nationwide Series top-ten’s overall in the 8 events held thus far. He even holds a 24 point lead in the Nationwide standings over last year’s champ, Carl Edwards.
Heading into Atlanta – the fourth race of the year – Bowyer sat 24th in points, but in the five races since then has managed to propel himself all the way into 8th, and continues to move steadily up the ladder.
As the Sprint Cup Series looks forward to Talladega Super Speedway following their off-week, Bowyer’s team feels that they have a ton of work to do. Bowyer sits only 43rd amongst all active drivers at the track, but they seem to have gotten a few things figured out when the Cup Series visited last Fall. After finishes of 40th and 35th in 2006, and then 35th again last Spring, the team got to work and nearly gave Clint his first top-ten at the track, but he went on to finish 11th.
When asked about his turnaround, Bowyer stated, “We’ve got to get better, but obviously we’ve come a long way. I’m very proud of everybody at RCR for putting together equipment that makes Jeff and Kevin and me look good. But, we’ve got a long ways to go. We’re not going to sit back and watch it happen, we’re going to make it happen!”
Tags: Clint Bowyer, ernie irvin, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Burton, jeff gordon, jimmie johnson, kevin harvick, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Richard Childress Racing, Sprint Cup Series, Sterling MarlinRelated Stories
POSTED IN: NASCAR
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