Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-70):
● Clint Bowyer started 15th and finished 13th.
● The No. 14 Haas Automation Ford narrowly avoided a lap seven accident that damaged several cars.
● Bowyer was up to ninth by the lap-25 mark.
● Bowyer told the crew his car was too loose and faded to 13th.
● During the stage break, the No. 14 pitted for tires and adjustments to help Bowyer.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 71-185):
● Bowyer started ninth and finished 12th.
● The race was stopped for 12 minutes on lap 75 for track repairs.
● No. 14 Haas Automation Ford dropped to 13th early in the stage before moving back into the top-10 at lap 118.
● Bowyer said his car was extremely loose in the closing laps of the stage.
● During the stage break, the No. 14 crew made more adjustments to improve overall grip.
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Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-311):
● Bowyer started 12th and finished 16th.
● Bowyer raced in 11th when a caution flew with 94 laps to go for a spin.
● A quick pit stop propelled Bowyer to eighth for the restart with 90 to go.
● Bowyer held his own and remained eighth with 23 to go when another caution brought the field to pit lane.
● Bowyer appeared ready to restart seventh, but a loose lug nut forced him back to pit lane and dropped him back in the field.
● Bowyer could climb no higher than 16th in the 17-lap, green-flag run to conclude the race.
Notes:
● Bowyer is 14th in the playoff standings with a 57-point cushion over the final transfer spot into the 16-driver playoff field.
● Bowyer can clinch next Saturday night in the regular season finale at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway by scoring three points in either of the two stages or earning no worse than a 34th-place finish.
● Bowyer has scored the fifth most points in the last four races.
● Bowyer is only 15 points behind 10th-place Kurt Busch and 34 points behind ninth-place Kyle Busch in the regular season standings.
● Kevin Harvick’s margin of victory over second-place Martin Truex Jr., was 3.525 seconds.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 40 laps.
● Twenty-one of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Overall a good weekend. Good day yesterday, had a decent day going today doing what we needed to and had a little hiccup with left front on the last stop. We’ll have to wait until next week to lock us in the playoffs.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday, Aug. 29 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. It is the final race of the regular season and it starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 10-race, 16-driver NASCAR Playoffs begins the following week with the Sept. 6 Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
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