Mid-Pack With Zach: Clint Bowyer, Stewart-Haas Racing

By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer

Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.

Clint Bowyer emerged as one of the favorites in the closing laps of Sunday’s Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway. He never led, but the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was in the hunt.

And in a day full of contact and accidents, that could have been enough.

That was until a ballsy three-wide move on Michael McDowell occurred by Bowyer on the backstretch. With only two laps to go, Bowyer put it on the line for a shot at his first 500 victory.

“Hey, it is the Daytona 500, I had to go for it,” Bowyer said.

The move didn’t pan out, as his Ford was turned off the nose of McDowell and into the Chevrolet of William Byron, sparking the fourth multi-car crash in the race’s last stage.

Just like that, Bowyer was done for the day, finishing 20th from the garage.

“This just sucks, man,” he said. “I had a big run on the No. 34 and knew that I had to make quick work of him because in the mirror they were going three-wide and losing their minds. You knew that was going to come down on you. So, I decided to lose my mind, too.”

Despite the premature end, Bowyer was happy with the speed from his SHR team. It wasn’t a repeat of last fall’s Talladega race for the organization, however, the competitive nature was back again.

Bowyer narrowly missed victory in Thursday’s Gander RV Duel event, losing the lead to Joey Logano on the last lap. That speed carried into the 500, and he hopes it kicks off the new year with momentum despite the accident.

“We had such a good Ford Mustang,” he said. “This is my best foot forward I have ever had here. We had a shot at it and I took it.”

List of 20th-Place Finishers in 2019

Daytona: Clint Bowyer