Clint Bowyer, one of the eight playoff contenders, stands in the garage during practice.
Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
AVONDALE, Ariz. – For Clint Bowyer, it’s all about getting better at a track and on a weekend when he has to be the absolute best.
Bowyer is still alive in the race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship—but just barely. After a 21st-place finish at Martinsville to start the Round of 8 and a problem-laden 26th-place result at Texas last Sunday, Bowyer has only one way to advance to the Championship 4 Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Quite simply, he must win Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The way the weekend started for Bowyer, that possibility seemed remote at best.
The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford struggled in Friday’s opening practice, posting the 19th fastest lap. In knockout qualifying that afternoon, Bowyer nailed down the 16th starting spot for Sunday’s race.
“I felt like we definitely improved from our practice,” Bowyer said. “Unfortunately, our result didn’t show much for it, but I think the car responded to some of the things that we changed going into qualifying for the better.
“Here, it’s all about the long runs and getting settled in and being good, having a good medium, middle-ground balance between these drastically different corners. (turns) one and two are a lot different than three and four, and you’ve got to have that balance. You’ve got to have a happy medium there.”
Bowyer’s approach to Sunday’s race will be as simple and straightforward as his mission—to get to the front and stay there. Bowyer concedes that an off-the-wall strategy isn’t likely to accomplish that objective.
“At the end of the day, stage points lead to good results,” Bowyer said. “Everybody wants stage points, because, if you’re getting stage points, you’re running up front, and you’ve got a shot at winning. That’s the way it is.
“If there’s some sort of opportunity that opens up, of course we’re going to take it at all costs, but at the end of the day, the reason people want stage points is because you’re running up front where you need to be running and in position to win the race.”