By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
In what was a toss-up of a finish Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, Clint Bowyer threw his hat firmly in the fight.
Running down race leader Martin Truex Jr. with under 20 laps to go, Bowyer was on full attack, as the Stewart-Haas Racing driver was eying his first win of 2019.
“We ran him down,” Bowyer said. “We were faster than him but… by the time you get to him, my stuff was pretty worn out.”
Wicked fast on the long runs, a 148-lap green-flag run to end the event played directly in his favor. However, the aerodynamic side did not.
“They are so aero
With the No. 4 of SHR teammate Harvick closing, a move by Joey Logano forced Bowyer’s hand to give up second place to fall into third. The result was Bowyer’s fourth straight top-10 finish and fifth top five at Richmond.
“We just came up short,” he said. “I felt, to have a chance, I needed to stay on the bottom for the win. I knew if the No. 22 got to my outside, that position was gone. It was one of those deals, you had to sacrifice that position to save the next one. If we sat there and ran door-to-door, the No. 4 wouldve got me, too.
“We were the fastest car on the long run, we clearly weren’t the fastest car. One of the fastest cars is sitting over in Victory Lane.”
Though appreciative of the team’s resolve, Bowyer can’t leave the track happy when a win slips away.
“We unloaded and qualified terrible,” he said. “Good track for me, good adjustments, our pit crew was good. It’s a team effort and we pulled through and prevailed with a good finish.
“But damn, you get that close and you want to win.”