Clint Bowyer Goes To Phoenix With A New Lease On Life

The 2017 season marks a time of change for both the iconic desert racetrack and No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion driver Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer has climbed into the driver’s seat vacated by retired, three-time champion Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), where the four-car team switched to Ford Performance in the offseason. The changes have returned Bowyer to the front of the field with 10th- and 11th-place finishes in the last two races. The No. 14 Ford is 12th in the season standings and is expected to contend for victory Sunday.

“I’m going there with a new team in Stewart-Haas Racing and a new manufacturer in Ford, so going to Phoenix will be like a whole new world for me,” said Bowyer, who has enjoyed success on the Arizona oval that’s surrounded by the Sierra Estrella Mountains. He owns two top-five finishes and six top-10s and has led 22 laps at Phoenix.

“Right now, we are really just trying to figure out these Fords, figure out my guys, and get that communication down that everyone knows is so important. I’m looking forward to the challenge of Phoenix. My teammate (Kevin Harvick) is really good out there – five victories (in the last seven races) – so I’ll be leaning on him. He represented SHR at the Phoenix test in February, so hopefully with what he learned all of us will be good when we go back there this weekend.”

The Phoenix racetrack is undergoing a resurgence of its own.

In January, it announced a $178 million renovation project that will be completed by November 2018. It includes: a new pedestrian tunnel to the infield and the relocation of the start/finish line to the current dog leg, grandstand seating capacity for 45,000, upgraded and new suites, new escalators and elevators, new souvenir areas, as well as multiple new restrooms. Also included is a new Fanzone in the infield, a new midway, new NASCAR Xfinity Series garages, new guest services and ticketing buildings along with a new public address system, plus increased Wi-Fi availability for fans.

Bowyer said making race venues more attractive to the fans will pay dividends in the long run and not just for the 52-year-old Phoenix track, but all of NASCAR.

“Phoenix has always been a great racetrack, but I think it’s getting older,” he said. “It was nothing to roll into Phoenix for testing and see a rattlesnake curled up in the corner of the garage. The fans are just awesome out there, so giving them a little bit better atmosphere in the infield is the biggest deal of everything they are doing there.”

Phoenix weekend marks a busy time of the season for all NASCAR Cup Series teams. After spending 10 days in Daytona, then traveling to Atlanta for the March 5 race, the teams raced in Las Vegas last weekend. After the race, they exchanged their primary and backup Las Vegas cars for the primary and backup cars they’ll run this weekend. After Sunday’s race, they’ll repeat the effort, swapping the Phoenix cars for the cars they’ll race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., next weekend.

Bowyer said being thousands of miles away from home for three consecutive weeks requires extra planning to take care of both people and racecars.

“Logistics are such a big thing on that West Coast swing,” he said. “You can’t come back and totally reboot and rebuild racecars. What you’ve got out there is what you’re going to have until you get home and get a chance to re-baseline and figure out where you’re at, where you need to work. You just don’t have time to logistically get any better.

“I mean, hey, let’s face it – people have families, so it’s tough on everyone. It’s a long time being gone, so you better be ready and you better be prepared.”

What is the biggest challenge at Phoenix?

“Since the repave, the track has changed quite a bit, so your driving has to also change. I was probably better with the old, worn-out surface and softer tires. Now, with the harder tires, the new repave and new construction off turn two, plus the difference in the track – it’s been a challenge for me. But again, this is a new world, with new equipment. I’ve learned already, in just a short amount of time, things here at SHR seem to be easier.”

Round 4 of 36 – Camping World 500k – Phoenix

• The Camping World 500k at Phoenix International Raceway will mark Clint Bowyer’s 401st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and 24th career Cup Series start at the desert mile oval. He owns two top-five finishes and six top-10s and has led 22 laps.

• Bowyer owns career totals of eight wins, two poles, 58 top-five finishes, 168 top-10s and 2,338 laps led in 400 NASCAR Cup Series races. He also owns eight Xfinity Series victories. He is 12th in the Cup Series standings after three races.
  • 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 in 2017: A 17-car accident on lap 127 of the Daytona 500 collected Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford and left him with a 32nd-place finish. At Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bowyer started 24th and climbed to third with 85 laps remaining before contact with another car and a cut tire left him with an 11th-place finish. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the No. 14 Ford team struggled early but improved throughout the race to finish 10th.

• 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 31 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.

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