[media-credit name=”Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Pleasantly surprised. Shocked and blown away. There are possibly more adjectives for Clint Bowyer about how he felt qualifying third for Sunday’s Good Sam Road Assistance 500 at Talladega, but those are all he could utter Saturday.

Bowyer, the events two-time and defending winner narrowly missed out on the pole and front row to Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman. But, his starting position is just as good as one considering he never expected to be any near the front of the field when the green flag is to fall.

“Very, very proud of [Brain] Pattie [crew chief] and everybody on our 5-Hour Energy Toyota with the support of the Avon Foundation and everything we’ve got gong on,” said Bowyer on Saturday afternoon.

“We haven’t been qualifying very good on these restrictor plate tracks and today it caught me off guard. Going into today my whole plan for the weekend was I kind of figured that we were going to qualify poorly and ride around in the back. We’re in the front and I’m going to stay there.”

For as little as drivers claim to do for qualifying at the plate tracks of Daytona or Talladega, Bowyer put his team in great position to go for three in a row on Sunday afternoon. As well as in great position to make a run at the championship in the final six weeks.

Entering the weekend many pointed to Talladega as Bowyer’s race, he sits fourth in points, just 25 markers out of the lead. The one race that could shake up the Chase in an instant and start to separate the contenders – Bowyer being among them. The 15 car is fast, Bowyer never conceded that fact before qualifying, and he knew that stacked up well with the competition.

But for two laps on Saturday it was faster than he expected. Now he changes his strategy for how he plans on making it the fastest car in Alabama and the one that everyone will be chasing. Namely by starting up front, staying up front, and trying to control your own destiny.

“It’s just you get down to the end and it all happens at the end. The biggest thing you don’t want to do is get caught up in a wreck early,” said Bowyer. “It doesn’t matter what happens, what your strategy is, if you qualify up front you need to stay up front. Even if you’re up front and find yourself shuffled back in the pack, get out of there.”

Many of the Chase drivers, Bowyer included, acknowledge there will be a slew of strategies playing out on Sunday. Some will race as hard as they can and try to stay near the front of the field, for as Dale Earnhardt Jr. says, it is a race sometimes riding in the back doesn’t necessarily work.

Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. agrees, he too wants to stay up front. But the likes of Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, say their plans will change as the laps do. The one thing they all agreed on though, you have to do whatever it takes to preserve the championship.

You can’t win it on Sunday, but you sure can lose it by wrecking before halfway. When Bowyer won the event last year, he wasn’t in the Chase and had nothing to lose. He just wanted to win before he left Richard Childress Racing for MWR. And only three of the 12 Chasers last season finished in the top 10.

Fortunes have changed for Bowyer this season, as he has two wins with his new team and the best shot he’s ever had in his still short career at winning a championship. Ironically if he’s to do so, it’ll be by showing that sometimes he’s not where you finish at the plate tracks, but where you start.

“Yes, it changes the game plan for me quite a bit. I thought we were going to qualify poorly and we didn’t. We’re in the top five and certainly up front and we need to try to stay there and stay out of trouble,” said Bowyer when asked if qualifying matters.

“Certainly going to race up there as much as I can until something crazy happens. The biggest thing is I’m not going to put myself – the situation I’m in I’ve got to be able to capitalize at the end of this race.”