Date: Nov. 3, 2019
Event: AAA Texas 500
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 334 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/164 laps)
Start/Finish: 24th/11th (Running, completed 334 of 334 laps)
Point Standing: 11th with 2,225 points
Race Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Aric Almirola of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-85):
● Clint Bowyer started 24th and finished second, earning nine bonus points.
● Bowyer wheeled the No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang up to 14th when the caution flag waved on lap 16.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel while under caution on lap 17, and then returned to pit road on lap 18 to top off with fuel.
● Was 30th for lap-19 restart.
● When caution came out again on lap 44, Bowyer stayed out while others pitted. He went from 14th to first.
● Led the field to green on lap-47 restart and held the point for 36 laps.
● Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick took lead from Bowyer on lap-85 restart.
● After finishing second at end of stage, pitted for four tires, fuel and a left-rear wedge adjustment.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 86-170):
● Bowyer started 21st and finished 12th.
● Green-flag pit stops began on lap 134, whereupon Bowyer was running 14th.
● Made scheduled, green-flag pit stop on lap 154 for right-side tires and fuel.
● At the conclusion of the stage, pitted for left-side tires and fuel.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 171-334):
● Bowyer started sixth and finished 11th.
● Keyed mic on lap 181 and said, “It’s a little looser like this.”
● Dropped to ninth when the caution flag flew on lap 187. Stayed out and maintained track position.
● As day changed to night and track cooled, Bowyer fell down the leaderboard. Was 12th on lap 200 and then 15th by lap 212.
● The No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang seemed to stabilize with a little more than 100 laps remaining, as Bowyer climbed to 13th by lap 225 and 12th by lap 231.
● Made scheduled, green-flag pit stop on lap 235 for four tires and fuel.
● Was caught a lap down on lap 243 when Bubba Wallace spun to bring out caution. Bowyer took wave-around to return to lead lap, albeit in 19th for lap-248 restart.
● Made scheduled, fuel-only pit stop under green on lap 305 while running in 13th.
● “Tight!” said Bowyer about his racecar on lap 311.
● Climbed to 11th in final 23 laps of the AAA Texas 500.
Notes:
● Bowyer earned his 20th top-12 of the season and his 14th top-12 in 28 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas.
● This is Bowyer’s second consecutive top-12 at Texas. He finished second in the series’ previous visit to the track in March.
● Bowyer led once times for 36 laps to increase his laps-led total at Texas to 124.
● Harvick won the AAA Texas 500 to score his 49th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his fourth of the season and his third at Texas – all of which have come in the last three AAA Texas 500s. His margin of victory over second-place and fellow SHR teammate Aric Almirola was 1.594 seconds.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 56 laps.
● Only 14 of the 40 drivers in the AAA Texas 500finished on the lead lap.
● Ford took the top-four finishing positions and five in the top-10 in the AAA Texas 500.
Clint Bowyer, Driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang:
“Track position was everything, and we just lost out on that in the end.”
Next Up:
The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Bluegreen Vacations 500k on Sunday, Nov. 10 at ISM Raceway near Phoenix.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
