Catchfence

Race/Date: Price Chopper 400 – October 4, 2009
Location: Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, Kan.
Start Position: Eighth
Finish Position: 21st
Points Position: 16th (Dropped one position)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Clint Bowyer was off to a strong start in Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway, but damage sustained on a lap-74 restart would hinder the performance of the Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, resulting in a 21st-place finish.

Despite recording his fourth-consecutive top-25 finish, Bowyer fell one position, to 16th, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.

The opening laps of Sunday’s race began with two caution periods in the first six laps, but Bowyer had enough time to assess that the handling of his Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet was not to his liking. Although the Emporia, Kan., native was experiencing a tight condition in the center of the 15-degree turns, he made the most of the situation by maintaining position just outside the top 10 until green-flag pit stops would bring the field to pit road beginning at lap 52.

Bowyer made his way to the attention of the Helping Hands pit crew to take on four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment at lap 53 and, when the cycle of stops completed, the No. 33 team showed 16th on the scoring pylon. Shortly thereafter, at lap 68, the No. 43 car made contact with the outside retaining wall, forcing NASCAR to throw the caution flag.

As the field readied for the restart at lap 74, the field bunched together as some drivers failed to come up to speed. Unfortunately, Bowyer was one of several cars that made contact with one another, resulting in damage to the right-front nose and splitter.

As the race continued under record-setting green-flag conditions, Bowyer struggled with the handling of his aerodynamically-challenged Chevrolet Impala SS. Despite his best efforts, he lost a lap to the race leaders at lap 117. Fortunately, eight laps later, a spin through the infield grass by the No. 83 machine that brought out the caution flag allowed the Helping Hands pit crew an opportunity to make repairs on pit road.

Crew chief Shane Wilson called the shots as the seven-man team worked to repair the compromised front end of Bowyer’s Chevrolet. Their efforts had a positive effect, as the two-time Sprint Cup Series winner began to record lap times comparable to those of the top-five cars. Though he had the speed to compete with the race leaders, Bowyer lacked the track position needed to regain his lost lap. As the race neared completion, Bowyer ran out of time and could not regain his lost ground. The unfortunate circumstance left the 30-year-old driver with a 21st-place result at his home track.

Tony Stewart picked up his fourth win of the 2009 season, allowing Chevrolet to clinch the 2009 Sprint Cup Series Manufacturer’s Championship. Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five finishers.

Bowyer’s RCR teammates Casey Mears, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick finished 15th, 23rd and 24th, respectively.

NASCAR’s senior circuit continues its westward trek to Fontana, Calif., for the second and final time of the 2009 season.

Live coverage of the 500-mile Sprint Cup Series race from Auto Club Speedway begins Sunday, Oct. 11 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and will be telecast live on ABC. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 30th points-paying race on the 36-race tour will be broadcast live on SPEED Friday, Oct. 9 beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT and can be heard worldwide on MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTE

“It was a pretty unfortunate day for the Cheerios/Hamburger Helper team. We got front-end damage on an early restart and with all of the long green-flag runs, we never had a chance to work on it. We finally got a caution, got things fixed and the car was pretty fast. 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. We ran lap times as fast as the leader, but never had a chance to do anything with it. I wish we could have had a better showing for all the hometown fans.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release