Clint Bowyer 26th at Kansas; Extra Stop Ruins Top-10 Bid in Final Race at Home Track

Getty Images

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

● Clint Bowyer started 12th and finished 12th.

● The No. 14 DEKALB Mustang held its 12th-place starting spot through the lap-25 competition caution.

● Bowyer told the crew his car was very loose in traffic and raced in 12th until the end of the stage.

● During the stage break the No. 14 pitted for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments to help with the handling.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

● Bowyer started ninth and finished 10th to earn a bonus point.

● The No. 14 DEKALB Mustang climbed to 10th before it made its first green-flag stop of the race on lap 132.

● Bowyer returned to pit lane during a caution on lap 145 and took only two tires. He restarted the race in ninth.

● During the stage break the No. 14 pitted for four tires.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):

● Bowyer started 14th and finished 26th.

● The No. 14 DEKALB Mustang climbed to ninth when he pitted under caution with 66 laps to go.  

● Bowyer raced in eighth on the restart before contact with Matt DiBenedetto dropped him to 14th.

● He restarted the race in 13th with 42 to go but more contact on the restart left Bowyer with damage.  

● Bowyer pitted under green with 28 laps to go for right side tires as well as to repair the earlier damage.

● The extra stop dropped the No. 14 to 27th and a lap behind the leaders.  

Notes:

● The Emporia, Kan. native led the field on a pace lap before the green flag to commemorate his final race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

● Joey Logano won the Hollywood Casino 400 to score his 26th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his third at Kansas. His margin of victory over second-place Kevin Harvick was .312 of a second.

● This was Ford’s series-leading 18th NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and its 704th all-time Cup Series victory.

● There were six caution periods for a total of 31 laps.

● Twenty-three of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Kansas with a 21-point advantage over second-place Denny Hamlin.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 DEKALB Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I’m disappointed because it looked like we were going to have a top-10 today. It was all about the restarts out there. We just got some damage and had to pit. It’s pretty frustrating because I wanted to leave here with a really good finish. I appreciate what the track (on the pace laps) and NASCAR did before the race. It was good to see the fans and be home today.”  

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday, Oct. 25 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It is the eighth race of the 10-race playoffs and the second race in the Round of 8. It starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

TSC PR

Spread the love