Clint Bowyer has six top-5s at Bristol

Clint Bowyer is 25/1 to win Food City 500.

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What do you think about Stewart-Haas Racing after seven races in 2017?
“This is an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often, whether it was my first opportunity in this sport or my last, to drive for this manufacturer, Ford, and the support they are giving us – everyone at Stewart-Haas, the management and sponsors and my teammates. You don’t put enough emphasis on the impact a good teammate can have on you. Drivers capable of winning races and championships. I have two championship-winning drivers (Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch) as teammates. Danica (Patrick), everything she brings for our entire sport, let alone the company. This is the opportunity you are giddy about no matter where you are at in your career.”

Why do you like short-track racing?
“You’re really wheeling that thing, trying to keep the grip under your tires, forward bite. Trying to keep the thing turning. Fighting the balance of the cars. Fighting your crew chief all race long because you’re whining in the car, and he is tired of hearing you whine. But all those things come together to win that race and be successful.”

Bowyer Notes of Interest: 

 Sunday’s race will mark Clint Bowyer’s 405th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and 23rd career Cup Series start at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where he owns six top-five finishes and 10 top-10s and has led 137 laps. 

 Bowyer owns career totals of eight wins, two poles, 59 top-five finishes, 170 top-10s and 2,338 laps led in 404 NASCAR Cup Series races. He also owns eight Xfinity Series victories. He is ninth in the Cup Series standings after seven races. 

 His most recent Cup Series victory came at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (Oct. 13, 2012). 

 His most recent Cup Series pole came at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (Sept. 16, 2007). 

 Bowyer in 2017: A 17-car accident on lap 127 of the Daytona 500 collected Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford and left him with a 32nd-place finish. At Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bowyer started 24th and climbed to third with 85 laps remaining before contact with another car and a cut tire left him with an 11th-place finish. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the No. 14 Ford team struggled early but improved throughout the race to finish 10th. At Phoenix International Raceway, Bowyer drove from 17th to 13th in overtime. Bowyer repeated his overtime feat at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, when he drove from sixth to third in the added laps to record his best finish of 2017. At Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Bowyer overcame a midrace accident to finish seventh. He finished 11th at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, his sixth consecutive top-13 finish.

- True Speed Communications