[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”211″]
[/media-credit]Coming into the 2012 season Clint Bowyer was one of those drivers that had yet to have a breakout season. In the six previous full seasons prior to 2012, Bowyer had only won five races in 216 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) starts. Almost halfway through the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, Bowyer announced that he was leaving Richard Childress Racing to join Michael Waltrip Racing for the 2012 season. A move that had many eyebrows raised among media and fans alike. It is a move that has paid off with Bowyer having his finest season to date and him right in the thick of the 2012 championship battle after Saturday night’s win at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
In a race that saw Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin dominate much of the 500 mile event. It was Bowyer who used a strong car and fuel mileage to take the lead with 25 laps to go a lead he would never relinquish as he held off a hard charging Denny Hamlin to win his third race of 2012.
A jubilant Bowyer said after the race “This is my worst race track. To come here and have cars capable of qualifying in the top five, and race up front, I mean, I tell you that means a lot to me. I think it speaks volumes about our team, Brian Pattie [crew chief] and everybody he has assembled around him. It makes me almost giddy. It’s so much fun to come to the race track knowing you have got cars that are capable of getting the job done. We’re still in contention for the championship. Never in a million years did I think the caution wouldn’t come out. We had too much left in the race. We were a burnout short of making it!”
Saturday night’s win left Clint 28 points behind Brad Keselowski in the chase standings with five races left as the series heads to Kansas Speedway which is Clint’s home track. Kansas has been hit or miss for Bowyer. In his eight career starts on the 1.5 mile oval, Clint has only one top-5, and three top-10’s to go with an average finish of 15.0. What a homecoming it would be for Kansas Bowyer if he was able to go to victory lane at home on Sunday.
With the championship still very much in sight look for Bowyer to be all in these next five races and be a contender all the way to the checkers at Homestead.
