Birth Date: May 30, 1979 Hometown: Emporia, Kan.
Team:
Clint Bowyer didn’t know what to expect ahead of the 2019
NASCAR Cup Series season. Not only was he to be in a new car
at Stewart-Haas Racing, he was working with a different set of
rules that changed track-by-track.
That uncertainty led to a season lled with peaks and valleys.
Ultimately, Bowyer ended up where he wanted to be in the
Playoff at season’s end, but he never made it to pit row. Still, he
nished ninth in points his rst top ten nish since 2013.
Bowyer is certain of one thing: he is exciting and entertaining.
At the All-Star race, Bowyer charged Ryan Newman after the race,
throwing several punches in what was one of the year’s best offtrack
spats. Neither driver was ultimately punished for the incident.
He revived his career in 2018 by winning twice and qualifying for
the NASCAR Playoffs that broke a winless streak that stretched all
the way back to 2012. While he faced the challenges of a switch
from the Ford Fusion to the Mustang GT, as well as a host of new
rules designed to create more side-by-side racing, Bowyer seemed
to gure things out quickly. He mustered six top-ves and 12 top-
10s which helped him gain a coveted Playoff spot.
Bowyer’s rst victory of 2018 came at Martinsville. He led the nal
114 laps to break a 190-race draught, and he marked the occasion
by wiping tears and waving at fans along the frontstretch while
carrying his son, Cash.
He won again in June at Michigan with Stewart-Haas teammates
Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch following in second and third,
respectively.
Another high-water moment for SHR came at Talladega during the
Playoffs when Almirola led Bowyer across the nish line. All four
team cars ran in a group at the front of the pack for most of the
race, only to be broken up in overtime when Harvick ran out of gas
and Busch got shufed in the draft.
“Man, you can’t say enough. I mean, I don’t think you can write
enough about the job that everybody at Stewart-Haas did,”
Bowyer said after the race. “Those cars were so fast. Oh my gosh,
was it awesome.”
In 2019, he nished fourth at Charlotte Roval to advance to the
Round of 12, but he was eliminated after the Kansas race. Shortly
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thereafter, SHR announced that Johnny Klausmeier would replace
the 14’s previous crew chief.
Once he got into the Playoffs in 2018, he advanced through the
rst two rounds, but he was knocked out in the third with nishes
of 21st, 26th and 35th. The deciding blow came at Phoenix with
the 35th-place nish after he blew a left-rear tire and crashed.
Bowyer wound up 12th in points that year his highest nish
since he nished seventh in 2013.
Bowyer wound up with nine top-ves and 16 top-10s. But he also
was knocked out the race six times by crashes.
Bowyer started his own Dirt Late Model team in 2008 which
he called Clint Bowyer Racing. The next year, his team ran
the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series full-time. They sported
Warrior Racecars designed by Stanford Goddard. The team
won two races.
2019 FEATURED DRIVERS
CLINT BOWER
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