Photo Credit: Noel Lanier/OnPitRoad.com
After qualifying inside the top-10 for the fourth weekend in a row, Clint Bowyer was able to capitalize and earn his first top-five finish since Watkins Glen in August.
The top-five finish was certainly earned as chaos ensued during the final laps of the race. He constantly stayed up front and even after a “catastrophe” in the pits, he overcame and got back into the top-10 and ultimately came home with a third-place finish.
“We had a fast Ford Fusion all weekend,” said Bowyer in the post race media availability. “Seems we’ve been struggling here lately trying to get some consistency in there to say the least. But drove back up through them and had some more trouble and we’d just kind of gain some and lose some and gain some and lose some.”
The car finally came to him in the end, and Bowyer found himself in position to earn his first victory in 183 races but chaos didn’t transpire in the right places. Speed was definitely there for Bowyer, but he also got lucky as when the No. 11 got turned, he had just wheeled away from the pandemonium.
“You know, those guys are racing for a lot, a lot on the line, and you know on a green-white-checkered at a place like this, all hell is going to break,” said Bowyer. “The only thing I can say is why we don’t race at night is beyond me here. We should definitely utilize those lights for something other than a green-white-checkered because it’s pretty damned cool under the lights.”
Bowyer heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the 24th time of his career. His best finish came in 2011 where he finished second, earlier this year he finished 11th after qualifying third. Despite not making the playoffs, Bowyer is still chasing a 17th place finish in the points.
