Quick, can you name the driver with the least points in the Chase who has the most wins? If you say Clint Bowyer you’re correct.
Sure the answer is obvious due to the 150-point penalty imposed against the New Hampshire winning driver after his car failed technical inspection back in Concord, NC.
As a result, despite his two wins – which is the most for a driver in this year’s Chase – Clint Bowyer stands 12th and last; some 367 points behind series leader, and four-time Cup champ, Jimmie Johnson.
Another part of the penalty was NASCAR-suspension of his crew chief, Shane Wilson, which ended with Talladega. Those penalties knocked the wind out of his sails, but, the Talladega win has changed all that.
"To win the Chase, the opener at New Hampshire, then have the penalty, ever since then it's just kind of been a pretty rocky road, truthfully not much to look forward to. You lose your crew chief, mojo, pit crew, everything is tumbling down. To win a race got things back in the right direction, where they needed to be," added Bowyer.
Now that Wilson will return to the #33 team Bowyer is a little chagrined that, ironically, his NASCAR-enforced timeout with Wilson is all to the good. "Truth be told, I think it's been good for all of us," said Clint Bowyer.
"It's opened our eyes to a couple things that we've been missing, you know. Communication side of it on race day is one I think. Scott Miller did a great job. Things are intense. When they get heated up, things can get out of control, spiral downhill pretty quick. Scott did a great job of managing that situation, keeping things pointed in the right direction."
"I think it helped me having to pick my end of it up a little bit, take the reins myself, be a little bit more of a quarterback instead of just having Shane do it all. It's been a good situation. Shane has been able to sit outside looking in, evaluate things, kind of open up a different opinion and evaluate where we're at. I think we can be better coming out of the box here at Texas. I look to be strong," Bowyer explained.
It’s more than plain old optimism which gives Bowyer confidence for the upcoming event.
He explained, "Texas, we've gotten close before. If we can improve on what we've had in the past there, which I think we can, and we have a brand-new racecar, and more importantly more horsepower, the engine boys are very excited about the engine that we're running. It's the next step. It's what Jamie McMurray won with in Charlotte. I'm looking forward to checking it out and seeing what it's got, hopefully landing ourselves in Victory Lane."
Sure the answer is obvious due to the 150-point penalty imposed against the New Hampshire winning driver after his car failed technical inspection back in Concord, NC.
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| Photo: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR |
As a result, despite his two wins – which is the most for a driver in this year’s Chase – Clint Bowyer stands 12th and last; some 367 points behind series leader, and four-time Cup champ, Jimmie Johnson.
Another part of the penalty was NASCAR-suspension of his crew chief, Shane Wilson, which ended with Talladega. Those penalties knocked the wind out of his sails, but, the Talladega win has changed all that.
"To win the Chase, the opener at New Hampshire, then have the penalty, ever since then it's just kind of been a pretty rocky road, truthfully not much to look forward to. You lose your crew chief, mojo, pit crew, everything is tumbling down. To win a race got things back in the right direction, where they needed to be," added Bowyer.
Now that Wilson will return to the #33 team Bowyer is a little chagrined that, ironically, his NASCAR-enforced timeout with Wilson is all to the good. "Truth be told, I think it's been good for all of us," said Clint Bowyer.
"It's opened our eyes to a couple things that we've been missing, you know. Communication side of it on race day is one I think. Scott Miller did a great job. Things are intense. When they get heated up, things can get out of control, spiral downhill pretty quick. Scott did a great job of managing that situation, keeping things pointed in the right direction."
"I think it helped me having to pick my end of it up a little bit, take the reins myself, be a little bit more of a quarterback instead of just having Shane do it all. It's been a good situation. Shane has been able to sit outside looking in, evaluate things, kind of open up a different opinion and evaluate where we're at. I think we can be better coming out of the box here at Texas. I look to be strong," Bowyer explained.
It’s more than plain old optimism which gives Bowyer confidence for the upcoming event.
He explained, "Texas, we've gotten close before. If we can improve on what we've had in the past there, which I think we can, and we have a brand-new racecar, and more importantly more horsepower, the engine boys are very excited about the engine that we're running. It's the next step. It's what Jamie McMurray won with in Charlotte. I'm looking forward to checking it out and seeing what it's got, hopefully landing ourselves in Victory Lane."