Clint Bowyer Is Feeling Right At Home At SHR

“Tony’s given me a great deal of confidence of putting me in that racecar, as has Gene Haas,” Bowyer said. “People have asked me, ‘How do you have the confidence to get back to where you need to be?’ And that’s it. That’s all the confidence you need. You have a three-time champion of this sport and a big-time owner in motorsports who had the confidence in you to put you in the thing, so that gave me all the confidence I needed to be behind the wheel.”

That confidence showed at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway last week, when Bowyer qualified fourth, then finished second in his qualifying race. A midrace accident ruined Bowyer’s bid for a good finish in the 500 and left him with a 32nd-place finish, but the No. 14 crew took confidence in the good Daytona performances.

Stewart’s was a frequent voice on Bowyer’s radio during the race.

This weekend, Bowyer and the No. 14 team led by crew chief Mike Bugarewicz travel to the high-speed Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second race of the Cup Series season. Bowyer is still looking for his first top-five at Atlanta, but that isn’t indicative of his performance history at the 1.5-mile oval. He led 52 laps at Atlanta during the March 2008 race before finishing sixth. The most heartbreaking moment there came in September 2013, when he led 48 of the first 192 laps before engine failure.

In total, Bowyer has led 115 laps at Atlanta but only has four sixth-place finishes to show for the effort. With the new combination of SHR, Ford and a strong No. 14 team, Bowyer is a good bet to better those marksSunday.

“I’ve worked with Kevin (Harvick) for many years. I’m looking forward to Kurt (Busch). Kurt is the one who I’ve never really known a lot about. Always raced against him, but never worked with him in any way, shape or form. Danica, I’m closer to her than probably some of the others, so I’m just looking forward to it. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be a neat atmosphere and something that, 10 years into this thing, one of the best opportunities ever is at your doorstep and fixing to happen. It’s pretty cool.”

“This whole team is really excited. You can see a new life with us. We’re excited with the new partnership with Ford and especially having Clint on board. You can see it in his face throughout Daytona. Like he said, ‘I feel rich again.’ He’s always a crack-up and going to bring a lot of liveliness to the group just being around him. He’s going to be entertaining, to say the least, this year.”

What is your strategy for the 2017 season?

“The first thing you have to do is show you are strong and can be competitive. We are going to race for top-10s every week and that’s how we’re going to start. A win might come our way and that would be great; that’s what we want to do, we are out to win. The first thing as a team to proceed toward winning a championship is start running in the top-10, then you start being consistent and you run in the top five. Once you are in the top-five, you look for those opportunities to win, whether its segments or end of the race. That’s the methodical approach we are taking into the 2017 season.”

• The Folds of Honor 500 will mark Clint Bowyer’s 399th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and 17th career Cup Series start at Atlanta. He owns five top-10 finishes and has led 115 laps.

• Bowyer owns career totals of eight wins, two poles, 58 top-five finishes, 167 top-10s and 2,338 laps led in 398 NASCAR Cup Series races. He also owns eight Xfinity Series victories
  • His most recent Cup Series victory came at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (Oct. 13, 2012).
  • His most recent Cup Series pole came at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (Sept. 16, 2007).

• Bowyer at Daytona: A 17-car accident on lap 127 of Sunday’s Daytona 500 collected Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford and left him with a 32nd-place finish.

• Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz is in his second season after overseeing Tony Stewart’s final campaign in 2016. Bugarewicz’s pit strategy played a key role in Stewart’s victory at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June 2016. The Lehighton, Pennsylvania native served as the lead engineer on Stewart-Haas Racing’s (SHR) No. 4 entry in 2014 and 2015. The Penn State University graduate was the only rookie crew chief to be part of last year’s Cup Series playoffs.

• Stewart and Gene Haas co-own SHR, which has recorded 37 victories and 30 poles since its inception in 2009. Stewart won the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series title and Kevin Harvick gave SHR its second title in 2014. SHR’s Kurt Busch won Sunday’s Daytona 500. SHR has one victory (Kevin Harvick, 2014), five top-five finishes and 10 top-10s in 27 starts at Atlanta.

• Bowyer Cup Series Career Victories:
  • Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (Oct. 13, 2012)
  • Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (Sept. 8, 2012)
  • Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (June 24, 2012)
  • Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Oct. 23, 2011)
  • Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Oct. 31, 2010)
  • New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (Sept. 19, 2010)
  • Richmond International Raceway (May 3, 2008)
  • New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (Sept. 16, 2007)

• Bowyer Cup Series Career Poles:
  • New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (Sept. 14,2007)
  • Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (May 11, 2007)

• ​Bowyer Career Cup Series Points Finishes:
  • 2016   27th
  • 2015   16th
  • 2014   19th
  • 2013     7th
  • 2012    2nd
  • 2011 13th
  • 2010   10th
  • 2009   15th
  • 2008     5th ​
  • 2007   3rd
  • 2006   17th

• Bowyer Cup Series Career Stops:
  • 2017  Stewart-Haas Racing
  • ​2016  HScott Motorsports
  • 2012-2015  Michael Waltrip Racing
  • 2006-2011 Richard Childress Racing

• Bowyer Xfinity Series Career Victories:
  • Dover (Del.) International Speedway (Sept. 26,2009)
  • Daytona (Fla) International Speedway (July 3, 2009)
  • Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (March 15, 2008)
  • Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (May 4,2007)
  • Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway in Avondale (April 20, 2007)
  • Dover (Del.) International Speedway (Sept. 23, 2006)
  • Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park  (Oct. 22, 2005)
  • Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (June 12, 2005)

• Bowyer Camping World Truck Series Victories:
  • Kansas (Kan.) Speedway in Kansas City (June 4, 2011)
  • Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway in Avondale (Nov.12, 2010)
  • Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (Nov 3, 2006)

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!