Clint Bowyer nervous but feeling good as he tries to maintain position in Chase
Clint Bowyer drives through the garage during practice Friday at Richmond International Raceway. The Richard Childress Racing driver will try to lock up one of the two remaining Chase spots in tomorrow night's Air Guard 400. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Illustrated
RICHMOND, Va. – All Clint Bowyer has to do Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway is stay out of trouble and he will make the Chase For The Sprint Cup.
He knows danger will be lurking around every corner at the 0.75-mile short track, but Bowyer is not worried and he’s not dwelling on what could wrong.
“Anything can happen at any time. You can get run over crossing the street,” the Richard Childress Racing driver said Friday at Richmond. “That’s what I tell people every time I get on my Harley and they whine about riding a motorcycle. I say, ‘Hey, you can die walking across the street just as easily.’”
With one race remaining before the 10-race Chase begins, Bowyer holds a 117-point lead on Ryan Newman and is 128 ahead of Jamie McMurray for the 12th and final Chase spot.
“With a 117-point lead, that’s a pretty good pad,” Bowyer said. “With any luck at all, we’ll be in this thing. If we’re not, it was just not meant to be.”
Bowyer has been in and out of the top 12 since midseason. He was 13th four weeks ago, but rallied back into the top 12 with finishes of 13th, fourth and seventh in the last three races.
Last week’s top-10 finish at Atlanta was crucial.
“Last week was a very, very important week for us,” Bowyer said. “We struggled big-time in the middle part of that race and were able to come back and get a top-10 finish and, more importantly, put some more points between them and us. That was a big, big sigh of relief.”
Bowyer must finish 28th or better to earn one of the two remaining Chase spots. He admits he’s a tad nervous, but also feels comfortable in the position he’s in.
He made the Chase in 2007 and 2008, but was in a similar situation in ’07, racing his way in during the 26th race of the season.
“I’ve been in this deal before, I know when to be nervous and when not to, and it’s still time to be nervous,” Bowyer said. “It’s a good feeling going in with a 100-point lead. Anything can happen but the odds are in our favor.”
Teammate Jeff Burton spent some time with Bowyer this week and says he’s in the right frame of mind entering tomorrow night's Air Guard 400.
“He is very relaxed and looking forward to this weekend. He feels like he’s in good position,” Burton said. “He’s really the only one with something to lose this week and he has to understand the situation he’s in. They have to avoid disaster. If they avoid disaster, they will be just fine.
“You’ve got to watch the positions you get yourself in and control everything you can control, and Clint is really good at doing that. He’s very focused on what he needs to do, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”
Bowyer calls Richmond, where he has one of his three career Cup victories, his favorite track. His focus, his says, is on winning, but he knows the rest of the Chase drivers will have the same focus.
He expects practically every Chase team to gamble on trying to score a win before the Chase begins.
“Some teams can afford to take gambles with fuel strategy or tire-wise, strategy-wise, and that separates the race and shakes things up,” he said. “At the end of the race, you are going to see guys keep track positions and do whatever it takes to be up front to have that opportunity to win when you might not normally see that when everything is on the line.”
Though he must be careful, Bowyer has the same thing on his mind.
“We’re here to win the race,” he said. “This is a fun, very important part of this sport, these short tracks, and it’s an opportunity to run well.”
