Sunday, July 17, 2011
Associated Press
loudon, n.h.
Clint Bowyer put the trophy from last year’s victory at New Hampshire in his house.
The rest of his memories from that weekend, well, they’re not so good.
Bowyer’s winning car in the Chase opener flunked inspection and NASCAR levied crippling penalties that ended his Sprint Cup championship hopes days after he had positioned himself as a top contender.
The 150-point penalty from his September infraction was so devastating that not even another Chase race victory at Talladega could budge him out of last place in the 12-driver field.
But that trying episode is far from Bowyer’s focus in his New Hampshire return this weekend — even as he’s pestered with reminders of his fantastic-to-flop tale.
Bowyer is stuck in 12th place again, a spot that, thanks to NASCAR’s revamped points system, puts him outside the Chase field.
“This is a crucial time for us,” Bowyer said. “We’re still within reaching distance of the cars in front of us, so this is a good time to get things pointed back in the right direction points-wise.”
There are eight races remaining until the Chase field is set, giving Bowyer time to make a move.
For 10 races, Bowyer was inside the top 10 and a string of five straight top-10 finishes made it look as if he put the crushing end to last year behind him and was poised to stay in contention. But consecutive poor finishes (36th at Daytona, 35th last week at Kentucky) knocked him out of the Chase field and behind 11th-place driver Tony Stewart.
Like any slumping driver, Bowyer and his Richard Childress Racing team have huddled at the shop for solutions.
“Everybody across the board, driver, crew chief, the pit crew, over the wall guys; it can very easily become a negative and spiral out of control,” Bowyer said. “But there are so many positives about our season. We’ve run well and that’s what has put us in this situation.”
The 32-year-old Bowyer, who is eligible for free agency at the end of this season, hits a milestone today when he makes his 200th career Cup start.