NASCAR’s Bowyer will feel homesick without his fans, friends, family at Kansas Speedway
NASCAR Cup driver Clint Bowyer will feel like a stranger in his own home this week.
No fans, friends, his folks or other family members will greet Bowyer, of Emporia, Kansas, when he returns for the NASCAR Cup Super Start Batteries 400 on Thursday night at Kansas Speedway, because spectators will not be allowed due to the coronavirus.
“Going back home isn’t going to feel like home,” Bowyer said. “I can’t have dinner with 20 people like I have been accustomed to and have family and friends and people who have followed my career tailgating in the infield and have a beer with them or whatever the case may be. It is not going to be the same.
“But it is still home. There is still a lot of pride in running and racing in the Cup Series of NASCAR at home at Kansas Speedway that means so much to you. That pride is still there but it is going to be different this time around, just like it has been everywhere else.”
Bowyer, 41, is still searching for his first Cup win at Kansas Speedway. In 23 starts at his home track, he has eight top-10 finishes, including fifth and eighth last year. His best result was a controversial second to Greg Biffle in 2007, just his second Cup race at the track.
Of greater importance to Bowyer is securing his first win of the 2020 season. It would lock in a third-straight postseason playoff berth as well as help secure a job for next year.
Bowyer, who signed a one-year extension with Stewart-Haas Racing for this season, has not won since Michigan in June 2018 — a span of 75 starts — and could soon be feeling the looming presence of Chase Briscoe, who leads the Xfinity Series with five wins for SHR.
“I don’t really see that as an issue,” Bowyer said of the threat to his ride in the No. 14 Ford. “I’ve got to do a better job inside the race car, we’ve got to do a better job of getting this car back up front where it belongs. Stewart-Haas is a wonderful organization. I want to be there. I want to retire there, and I love the opportunity and the people behind it. I believe all the pieces of the puzzle are there.”
Bowyer’s immediate concerns have to do with the elimination of practice sessions and on-track qualifying due to the pandemic.
“It is hard trying to learn one another in this format with no practice or anything else,” said Bowyer, who has a new crew chief, John Klausmeier. ““Honestly, it is just weird. It feels like you should have an asterisk behind every finish. If we would have had practice, we would have had a little different run or a different setup in the car and wouldn’t have encountered those problems.
“Those are all things that not having that chance to communicate and work with one another that we just don’t have.”
To determine the starting field, NASCAR conducts a random draw beginning with the top 12 in owners points, followed by subsequent draws in increments of 12. So Bowyer, who enters this week’s race 13th in the standings, keeps starting races from the middle-of the-pack, at best, though NASCAR is considering tweaking the format.
“Every time you start the race, you’re behind the eight ball,” he said. “Not only are you behind the eight ball, you’re behind the eight ball of cars that are capable of winning races. I mean, there’s a reason they’re up front. … We need to get into that 12th spot, and then you’ll see some single-digit finishes.”
If for some reason, Bowyer doesn’t return for a fifth season with Stewart-Haas next year or fails to find a fulltime ride, he has positioned himself well for a future in broadcasting. The gregarious Bowyer received favorable rave reviews for his work describing i-Racing during the pandemic as well as Xfinity races this season for Fox.
But that can wait.
“I’m a race car driver, man,” he said. “I love doing the broadcasts and that time will come, but I want to race and I want to be in a race car. I love competing. I love being (teed) off at the end of the race. I love being happy at the end of the race. I love that adrenaline of lining up next to that guy and wondering how in the hell you’re going to come off the turn two ahead of him, and that’s a feeling that can’t be replaced.
“That being said, I feel like I really have appreciated the relationship with Fox this year. It’s not up to me whether that happens or not. It’s a ton of fun … and I have a huge amount of respect for everybody who puts on the production of our sports and hopefully, that opportunity will come someday. I don’t know when that day will be.”
NASCAR TV Schedule at Kansas Speedway
Thursday: 6:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Kansas 400, NBCSN
Friday: 6 p.m., Kansas 200 (NASCAR trucks), FS1
Friday: 9 p.m., ARCA Kansas 150, FS1
Saturday: 12:30 p.m., Kansas 200 (NASCAR trucks), FSN
Saturday: 4 p.m., Xfinity Kansas Lottery 250, NBCSN