KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The whole day left Clint Bowyer in obvious disappointment.
He finished out of the top 20. He lost the Stateline Challenge against Carl Edwards, allowing a rival who also calls Kansas Speedway home to upstage him in their head-to-head charity showdown. This Sprint Cup race was more along the lines of Bowyer’s struggles earlier this season than his Nationwide Series victory last weekend at Dover, Del.
No wonder, then, that the Emporia native didn’t have the best homecoming.
Bowyer finished 21st at the Price Chopper 400 on Sunday at Kansas, and left knowing he and his team likely weren’t the only ones disappointed.
“Wish I could have had a better showing for all the hometown fans,” Bowyer said in a release.
Front-end damage to his No. 33 Cheerios car on an early restart in the race proved to be a lot for Bowyer to overcome. He ran in seventh place in the race’s first 10 laps, but gradually slipped back farther and farther, and soon he was a lap behind.
“And with all of the long green flag runs we never had a chance to work on (the front-end damage),” Bowyer said. “We finally got a caution, got things fixed and the car was pretty fast.”
Last year’s 12th-place finish for Bowyer at Kansas was marred by a couple of crucial mistakes — he was black-flagged for passing before the starting line, then later was penalized for speeding on pit road. This time around, there weren’t any glaring errors for Bowyer to ruminate on, although he was flagged on lap 126 for pitting before pit road came open. The damage early on hurt him, and he simply couldn’t make an impact.
“We were in position for the free pass, but by the time the caution flags flew, the leaders had lapped other cars, and we couldn’t capitalize,” he said. “We ran lap times as fast as the leader, but never had a chance to do anything with it.”
In coming back from early struggles in Sunday’s race to finish 10th, Edwards, a native of Columbia, Mo., won the Stateline Challenge competition between the two drivers. The challenge stipulated that Sprint would donate a check for $100,000 to Victory Junction Midwest in the name of the driver with the better finish on Sunday. Victory Junction is a camp for chronically ill children that is building a new facility in Wyandotte County. As the lower finisher between the two drivers, Bowyer will have a check for $25,000 donated in his name.
Tony Stewart came away with the checkered flag Sunday, moving up to fourth place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Stewart is now 67 points behind leader Mark Martin, who finished seventh Sunday and now leads Jimmie Johnson in the Chase by 18 points and Juan Pablo Montoya by 51.
Stewart led the race for just 37 laps; Greg Biffle, who finished third, led for 113 laps, and Johnson led for 53. Jeff Gordon finished in second place, .693 second behind Stewart. The win was Stewart’s fourth of the year.
Jamie McMurray, another driver with a local fan base — he’s a Joplin, Mo., native — finished 31st.
The damage Bowyer suffered to his car Sunday made that D-word a recurring theme for him on the weekend. After wrecking his No. 29 car in Friday’s Nationwide practice, he was forced to use his backup car in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300. Bowyer went on to finish ninth in a race won by Joey Logano. That showing was Bowyer’s fourth straight top-10 finish in a Nationwide race at Kansas.
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
I'm still a fan & proud of Clint. Thanks for your effort.
October 5, 2009 at 2:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian35 (anonymous) says...
Finally got what he deserves.
October 5, 2009 at 4:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
HARSH - You probably like a good upstanding driver like Kyle Busch.
October 5, 2009 at 4:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Joe_Strummer (anonymous) says...
I hate NASCAR and don't care about Bowyer one way or another, but thats brutal. The guy could just turn his back on Emporia, but doesn't.
Lighten up Francis.
October 5, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justacitizen (anonymous) says...
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
October 5, 2009 at 4:19 p.m. ( permalink )
emporian35 (anonymous) says...
The only reason he doesn't turn his back on this town is so the City will put up a sign that says "Welcome to Emporia- Home of Clint Bowyer" Oh but I guess he is gods gift to Emporia.
October 7, 2009 at 1:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
That's pathethetic emporian35. You must be a member of the Jr. Nation.
October 7, 2009 at 6:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporia79 (anonymous) says...
You are one close minded individual, emporian35. Already in his short time with NASCAR, he has done great things for our community. Who cares if they did put up a sign. They haven't yet and he still keeps giving making Emporia a better place. Why don't you look at the big picture instead of the insignificant things that don't matter in the end.
October 7, 2009 at 8:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
marko (anonymous) says...
someone missed the sign
October 7, 2009 at 8:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )