NASCAR Cup Series

Bowyer in need of a good finish

Published Jul. 15, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The thrill from Clint Bowyer’s last trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway did not last long.

Although Bowyer won the Sylvania 300 last September, three days later NASCAR penalized the No. 33 Chevrolet 150 points after the car failed to meet body tolerances during further inspection at the Research and Development center.

Bowyer kept the win but sacrificed the valuable points that could have made him a Chase contender.

“Hey, the trophy is in my house,” Bowyer said with a laugh. “And I aim to have another one there.”

Bowyer needs a momentum-building run on Sunday, having recently taking a beating in the points after back-to-back accidents at Daytona and Kentucky knocked him from eighth to 12th in the point standings.

While Bowyer was competitive and led laps at Daytona, the No. 33 Chevy was completely lost at Kentucky.

The timing of last week’s performance could not have been worse for Bowyer with a potential sponsor being courted at the track. The affable Bowyer generally runs well on 1.5-mile venues, but really struggled at Kentucky. Still, Bowyer is committed to finding a solution. He spent last week at the shop hoping to figure out what went wrong.

“We’ve had such great runs over the last few years at Daytona,” Bowyer said. “You’re not going to go to a place like that 10 times and get 10 good finishes. You’re just not. It’s too much of a crapshoot. You’re going to get caught up in something sooner or later and unfortunately it was my time.

“Kentucky, the next week, that’s where it really hurts. That’s what has really set us back here in the points, and I can’t think of a better place right here in New Hampshire to get things turned back around and pointed in the right direction.”

Bowyer has two career victories at New Hampshire. Not surprisingly, Bowyer posted the fastest lap during practice. But he was unable to convert the last qualifying position into the pole on Friday.

Although Bowyer’s lap of 133.595 mph broke the existing track record it wasn’t fast enough to knock Ryan Newman’s speed of 135.232 mph from the pole position.

“We’ve always run well in a short flat-track program but there’s nothing to say as things quickly evolve in this sport, there’s nothing saying that that we’re not going to bring that same recipe back that we did last year and find that same success,” said Bowyer, who will start 12th on Sunday.

“We’re going to have to work hard. We’re going to have to find a good balance on our race car; no different than we always do. But it seems like it’s easier to find that balance for us on a track like this.”

With Richard Childress Racing still searching for sponsorship to keep Bowyer in the No. 33 Chevrolet next year and beyond, the driver knows “this is a crucial time” for the team. Bowyer is currently 15 points outside the Chase Zone. A win on Sunday would not only elevate his position in the point standings but provide insurance for one of the two wild-card spots.

“We’ve got them breathing down our necks and we’re still within reaching distance of the cars in front of us, so this is a good time to get things pointed back in the right direction points-wise,” Bowyer said. “But I tell you, with this crazy wild-card thing this is a good track for us to get a win and solidify ourselves in the Chase. So it’s an important weekend for sure.”

THE LAME DUCK BURDEN

The repercussions of Carl Edwards’ possible departure from Roush Fenway Racing are already being felt by the front office and the team.

How can RFR be expected to sell sponsorship for a driver that might be there next season? How can the front office plan its roster not knowing whether there’s a seat to fill?

And where’s the sense of allegiance in a squad that senses its driver will abandon them five months from now?

Edwards has led the points standings for 12 of 18 weeks this season — including an amazing 10-race stretch before contact with teammate Greg Biffle sent the No. 99 Ford spinning out of Turn 4 at Daytona. Edwards' 25-point advantage quickly turned into a five-point deficit.

While Edwards was the top qualifying Ford at New Hampshire, rolling off 15th on a one-mile track isn’t exactly the best place to start on Sunday.

The longer Edwards’ status remains in flux, the greater the uncertainty will grow with the team.

Kurt Busch has been down this path before. He remembers all too well the tumultuous months following his decision to leave Roush for Penske Racing in 2005.

Busch, who was the defending Sprint Cup champion at the time, was fifth in the point standings and had won two races prior to his announcement. Once his plans went public, he wrecked in the following race at Watkins Glen, won one last race (Richmond) in the No. 97 Ford and was booted from his ride with two races remaining on the schedule.

“The experience that I went through was hell to put it lightly,” Busch said. “I went in there like a man to tell Jack (Roush) that I was leaving and to see how it all turned out was very surprising to me. I would definitely tread lightly. Make sure you’re saying what you want to say, the proper way.”

Busch, who has recovered nicely at Penske Racing and is currently fourth in the point standings, does not anticipate Edwards leaving Roush Fenway Racing.

“This is an owner’s market,” Busch said. “Right now, it’s hard to find the sponsor dollar. New drivers, guys like Nelson Piquet Jr. are calling me or guys like (Ricky) Stenhouse or (Trevor) Bayne are bringing money into the series just to find rides.

“So it’s very difficult right now to say that a driver could just pick up, take his sponsor with him and go somewhere because right now, I think that it’s an owner’s market.”

I’VE GOT YOUR ATHLETE RIGHT HERE

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate stuck his cleat in his mouth on Twitter Wednesday night.

Tate’s Twitter (@showtimetate) response to five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson’s nomination for the ESPY Best Male Athlete Award said: “Jimmy johnson up for best athlete???? Um nooo .. Driving a car does not show athleticism.”

To which Johnson replied: @showetimetate "Ignorance is a state of being uninformed (lack of knowledge). Lucky 4 you, this can be fixed. Come to a race and be informed."

Granted, Tate was a rookie just last season. Despite 11 starts with the Seahawks, he’s yet to score his first touchdown let alone lead his team to a championship.

When Johnson was a rookie, he scored three wins, started from the pole four times and finished fifth in the standings among 43 teams — not 32 as is the case in the NFL.

Johnson says fighting the race car driver as athlete perception is nothing new.

“I didn’t take great offense to it,” Johnson said. “I took great pride in watching our sport and all the motorsports fans out there express themselves and share their thoughts. That was really cool. And it’s something we have fought for a long time.

“If you go back to Bill France and his vision, and the only reason I bring this up is because when I won the AP Male Athlete of the Year, I got a letter from Jim France; a handwritten letter telling me how important it was to his father and to his grandfather that drivers would be considered as athletes someday. So it’s been around for a long time and I feel that through the success I’ve had and some of the opportunities I’ve had, and also some of the awards I’ve won, that we’ve helped dispel that.

“It didn’t bother me. I took great pride in seeing our NASCAR Nation kind of put him in place. And as you watched his timeline, he quickly has changed his song and dance and is now saying he respects the NASCAR group. So, good job everyone.”

NUMBERS GAME

3: Top-10 starts for David Reutimann in nine races at New Hamsphire. Starting third is a career best for Reutimann.

12: Drivers that broke the Sprint Cup track qualifying record on Friday.

47: Pole positions now won by Ryan Newman — 10th all time.

SAY WHAT?

Tony Stewart, who qualified second on Friday, is generally critical of Goodyear. But Stewart complimented the new New Hampshire tires for providing faster speeds in qualifying.

“Goodyear brought a different tire and it’s just a grippier tire,” Stewart said. “What we have fought here in the past is a tire that normally chatters for two or three laps until it really got some temperature, then it would get some bite. This tire seems to just take off better.”