September 15, 2019 | By Lee Spencer

Bowyer bets on himself in Las Vegas

After a mediocre run in the regular season, Clint Bowyer made the most of his clean slate by kicking off the Playoffs in Las Vegas with his first pole in 12 years—to the day—his last having come at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Certainly, a lot has changed since that day in 2007. Bowyer was just 27 at the time. He had plenty of blue sky ahead of him. In his second season with Richard Childress Racing, Bowyer piloted the No. 07 Chevy from the pole to his first career win. 

Twelve seasons, three teams and nine wins later, Bowyer hasn’t lived up to the expectations Childress held for him. That has pretty much been the case for the Emporia, Kansas, native this season as well. Not only has it been 47 races since Bowyer has won behind the wheel of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, but he barely squeaked into the Playoffs. Three top 10s in the final three races helped solidify his standing.

Could starting the postseason with a pole be a game changer for Bowyer?

“Well, you can’t just make up momentum,” Bowyer said. “You can’t make up confidence. There is only one thing that breeds that and it is success on the race track. You can’t just wake up and say, ‘Alright guys, we are going to change our attitude.’ My old man used to tell me all the time to fix my attitude and my attitude sucks. Well, damn, Dad, I can’t just put a smile on my face and go from 25th to the pole. It doesn't work that way. 

“You have to build and work hard and start the infrastructure from within and a positive attitude goes a long way. We have been learning this Ford Mustang body all season long and we have been learning this new format all season long and it is time to put all that to good use. 

“Certainly the timing is in our favor right now. Getting out of race cars and situations, whether it is qualifying or the race the past three weekends and you have a smile on your face. You are confident and proud of the job you did. That is the momentum I am talking about.”

Bowyer’s right. He’s not the only driver at Stewart-Haas Racing to struggle this year. Kevin Harvick, the alpha dog at SHR, didn’t win until seven races ago at New Hampshire. Of course, the No. 4 team has been on a roll since then, picking up two additional victories since. 

On Sunday, SHR Fords will complete the first two rows for the South Point 400, with Daniel Suarez lining up alongside Bowyer and Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola behind them.

“We sit on the pole but look, my gosh, 1-2-3-4 for Stewart-Haas Racing, and I think that shows a lot about our hard work, dedication and focus on the qualifying lap,” Bowyer said. “Now, that being said, what does that mean for (Sunday)? I think we have seen in our sport before that cars that are bad fast on Saturday or on qualifying day sometimes can’t hold it for 400 miles. That is going to be a tall order. 

“Obviously, if those things are that fast they are trimmed out quite a bit for that speed. You do make adjustments and go back into race trim and we all know clean air is very important on a race track like Las Vegas and we have that. That's in our favor.” 

Despite being surrounded by teammates, Bowyer has no intention of backing down when push comes to shove.

“I am going to have to be aggressive to hold my teammates off on starts and restarts and Mike (Bugarewicz, crew chief) has to do a good job of playing the strategy game,” Bowyer said. “We are back to a 1.5 mile track and a tire that is conducive to an untimely caution that breaks up a stage and you have a decision to make. We are here in Sin City and there is some gambling to do tomorrow that just might win you a race. I think that is a fitting thing for being at this race track in this situation in the playoffs and everything else with it being for all the marbles.”

Bowyer’s only top-five finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was second in 2009. He has four top-10 results at the track but finished 14th in the spring. With the exception of Vegas and Charlotte, Bowyer finished sixth or better at the other four intermediate tracks this season. 

He remains encouraged for the final 10 races of the year.

“We have done a good job, my race team, Mike and all the guys on the 14 car of preparing ourselves for these playoffs,” Bowyer said. “Things ratchet up in the playoffs and the pressure is intense. You have to be able to perform your best in the most extreme situations and we have kind of been there for the last month and a half as we have been grinding it out and looking over our shoulders to make all the right decisions. 

“Don't give up too many stage points here and don't sacrifice here to be good on the second one. Go for a win, whatever the case may be you have to read every situation accordingly and pull and audible if needed and those are the things you have to do to survive and go to the next round in the playoffs. 

“Again, momentum, coming off three good finishes with us we are building. Timing is everything and certainly, hell it has been 12 damn years since I have been on the pole and we are starting off the playoffs on the pole. I think we won that race by the way in New Hampshire. It is so long ago I don't really remember. I am proud of the situation and proud of the effort first and foremost and certainly proud to lead a strong field to the green flag here at Las Vegas.”