Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-30):
● Clint Bowyer started first and finished third.
● Bowyer dropped to fourth on the start and told the team his No. 14 Toco Warranty Ford Mustang was loose.
● Bowyer held his position through the first caution on lap 27.
● A quick pit stop by the No. 14 crew returned him to the track in third.
● On the restart he battled for the lead on the final lap before finishing third.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 31-50):
● Bowyer started third and finished 14th.
● Bowyer and Ryan Blaney made contact on the opening lap and Bowyer dropped through the field.
● Bowyer pitted twice to make repairs and cure the handling ills that kept him in the back.
● He told the crew his car was very loose in the closing laps of the stage.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 51-70):
● Bowyer started first and finished 16th.
● Took only two scuffed tires before the start of the stage, saving his four new tires for the final stage.
● Bowyer led two laps before the cars with newer tires shuffled him to the back of the pack.
Stage 4 Recap (Laps 71-88):
● Bowyer started 16th and finished 12th.
● Bowyer took four tires, but returned to pit lane before the start of the final stage to secure a lug nut.
● Bowyer could only climb to 12th before the end of the race.
● After the checkered flag, Ryan Newman hit Bowyer’s car, sending it nose-first into the outside wall.
● Bowyer exited his car on pit lane and immediately went to Newman’s car to show his displeasure.
Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Toco Warranty Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“I don’t know what the hell his beef was. I thought he was a lap down. Our day was over. We lost track position there, got sideways, crossed up and basically buying time there to see if something was gonna happen at the end. They got four-wide off of four. Hell, I thought he was a lap down. I checked up and he ran into my left-rear and that’s the last I saw of him. Then after the race he comes and runs into my back and turns me all around and I pull up next to him and he dumps me into four. Where I come from you get poked in the nose for that, and that’s what he got.”
Notes:
● Bowyer started on the pole for the All-Star Race for the first time in his career. Saturday night’s race marked his 10th All-Star Race.
● Bowyer led twice for two laps to increase his laps-led total in the All-Star Race to 13.
● Kyle Larson won the All-Star Race with a .322-of-a-second margin of victory over runner-up Kevin Harvick.
● The All-Star Race featured 10 lead changes among seven different drivers. Nineteen drivers comprised the field.
Next Up:
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to points-paying racing on Sunday, May 26 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. The longest race on the Cup Series schedule gets underway at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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