Clint Bowyer wins on road course while Dale Earnhardt Jr. falters,
First win for Waltrip on road course marks driver as contender
SONOMA, Calif. — Sunday’s Sprint Cup victory came into focus for Clint Bowyer when he gazed at a framed picture in the media center of the Sonoma road course. It was a photo of Jeff Gordon drinking red wine out of a goblet in victory lane.
“I just beat him,” Bowyer said with incredulity, pointing at NASCAR’s alltime winningest driver on road courses (five victories at Sonoma). “I’m telling you, I passed him. You have no idea, for a young racer from Kansas, you don’t forget stuff like that. It’s just unbelievable to be able to (be) at this point in my career.”
The sixth win in NASCAR’s premier series was a breakthrough for Bowyer, 33, on several levels.
-It was his first triumph for Michael Waltrip Racing, which he joined this year after spending his first six seasons in NASCAR’s premier series with Richard Childress Racing.
-The Emporia, Kan., native improved two spots to seventh in the standings and solidified his chances of contending for a championship after missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup last year.
-He scored his first victory on a road course, a twisting track where few would have considered Bowyer, who has raced almost exclusively on ovals, a contender.
Bowyer did it by dominating, leading 71 of 112 laps in his No. 15 Toyota. Yet third-place finisher Kurt Busch still thought he might be able to pressure Bowyer into a mistake.
“I just kept thinking, ‘ He’s a dirt late-model racer from the Midwest; there’s no way he’s going to be able to run the road course,’ ” Busch said. “And he did. He did great.”
Bowyer had to fend off two series champions and past winners at Sonoma, also staving off runner-up Tony Stewart after Busch’s car faded in the final eight laps. Stewart, a seven-time winner on road courses, admitted no one would have categorized Bowyer as a road-course ace before Sunday.
“But all weekend he had had good speed,” Stewart said. “So it didn’t surprise me to see him up there leading. He didn’t make any mistakes.”
The performance didn’t come completely out of the blue. Bowyer had managed four top-10 finishes in six previous starts at Sonoma. “Quietly, we’ve had good runs here,” he said. “This probably quietly has been one of my favorite racetracks. I’ve always been comfortable here.”
Bowyer never faltered in becoming the sixth consecutive first-time road course winner at Sonoma. His most nerve-racking moment Sunday might have been getting caught in prerace traffic and nearly missing the mandatory drivers meeting.
The win didn’t surprise team owner Michael Waltrip, whose team notched its third victory since its 2007 inception. “Clint is one of those guys that showed up and knew how to race,” Waltrip said.
Bowyer is beginning to feel certainty after starting the year anew with MWR and crew chief Brian Pattie (who also guided Juan Pablo Montoya to a road-course victory at Watkins Glen International two years ago).
“It was very nerve-racking in the (offseason),” Bowyer said. “Basically (I) kind of lost my ride at RCR (and) walked into a new program with a lot of unknowns. I still had confidence in myself.”