Trouble in Turn2

For the third straight Chase, a major surprise finished 3rd in the final standings. In 2005 it was second year driver Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin took NASCAR by storm in 2006 and this past season Clint Bowyer crow-barred his way into championship contention. For Bowyer it capped an excellent second season.

After a wild finish at the Daytona 500 that saw him slide across the finish line upside-down and his car burst into flames, the rest of the season was tamer. After several narrow misses, he finally scored his first Cup win in the fall at Loudon, New Hampshire. He had several other races where he was a top five car (9 races with a driver rating over 100), but not quite in position to win at the end. He led 387 laps, the most of the three RCR cars.

One of the things that really helped Bowyer make the Chase was his zero DNF’s. Keeping the car in one piece and on the lead lap enabled Bowyer to accrue enough points to compensate for a lack of top 5 finishes. He had 25 lead lap finishes and only four finishes worse than 30th. He also had 30 top 20’s including 18 straight races with a top 20 result.

Bowyer was often forced to play the survival game because RCR didn’t have the same speed as Gibbs and Hendrick cars. All three RCR cars made the Chase, but they were also the three worst driver ratings of Chase drivers. It’s something that the company needs to fix in order to maximize Bowyer’s talent. Year two of the new Chevy R07 engine and the DEI-RCR motor program will certainly help. The other factor is getting up to speed with the CoT on the intermediate tracks.

Bowyer has found success at the 1.5 and 2 mile tracks, no more so than his hometown Kansas Speedway. Bowyer finished 2nd in this year’s race and had a strong car in 2006 before hitting the wall, killing his win chances. He has also enjoyed strong runs at Chicago, Fontana and Lowe’s. Bowyer’s style also fits in with RCR’s 1-mile program that sees all three drivers run well at Phoenix, Richmond and Loudon. Boywer’s win at Loudon was especially dominant. Starting from the pole he led 222 of 300 laps and scored a perfect 150 driver rating.

Bowyer is one of the most intense drivers in the Cup and it’s something that is potentially dangerous. Conflicts are a part of racing, but if Bowyer allows it to affect his results, especially if RCR isn’t a top rate team, that could cost him points over the course of a season.

The outlook for Bowyer is pretty good for 2008. By the end of the year he was racing for wins on a pretty consistent basis. He has everything in place to make another Chase berth, although a top five finish in the final standings might be too much to expect. One to two wins is a definite possibility and if he made it to Victory Lane at Kansas, that would be a pretty popular result.