Photo Credit: Noel Lanier/OnPitRoad.com
Since his move to Stewart-Haas Racing, Clint Bowyer has been consistent but still hasn’t found victory lane. At Bristol, he could almost taste victory but watched as Jimmie Johnson took his second straight victory of 2017 after winning Texas the previous weekend. Bowyer will start ninth in today’s Coca-Cola 600, giving him a good shot at nabbing that first win.
“It’s such a big race. Practice definitely didn’t go the way we anticipated and planned after getting in the wall and the guys working hard on the car,” Bowyer said. “Truth be told, we should be happy with a top-10 starting spot. It’s a long race. You’ve got to be up in clean air and have to be amongst them. We’ll work hard and get it right for the race.”
In the first practice yesterday, Bowyer and his team didn’t find much speed and found himself 22nd of 38 cars that turned a lap in first practice yesterday. The team tweaked on the No. 14 between practices and was able to work up to 14th on the speed charts. Starting ninth in the longest race of the season can be a positive as long as you don’t drop through the field quickly.
Many drivers are looking at last weekend’s All-Star race for notes and any trends that may roll over into tonight’s 600-mile race. Bowyer won the first stage of last weekend’s Monster Energy Open which moved him into the All-Star Race. He’d secure a 13th place finish in his first All-Star race since 2015.
“I think you saw from the All-Star Race that track position is going to be key. But we will have longer green-flag runs Sunday and handling will come into play. We had a really good car last week. If we could have gotten out front in the All-Star Race like we did in the Open, then we would have been tough to handle.”
