NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Can Clint Make A Dent?
Twenty-six points behind, Clint Bowyer still in the hunt…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted November 01, 2012   Fort Worth, TX
Clint Bowyer is third in Sprint Cup Series points. (Photo: Getty Images)
As the Chase for the Sprint Cup moves on to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, the big question appears to be: Can Brad Keselowski hang with new leader Jimmie Johnson over the final three weeks?

Clint Bowyer has a bigger question: What about me?

Although many observers now label the Chase a Jimmie vs. Brad showdown, Bowyer sits in position to surprise – in third place, 26 points behind. He’ll need some “help” from Johnson and Keselowski – in the line of engine failures, accidents or major miscues, but he’s poised if the door opens.

“All I can do is worry about running well and putting ourselves in position to win races every week,” said Brian Pattie, Bowyer’s crew chief. “Bad luck is not something I can really wish upon the other guys in front of us or even worry about. Yes, we are going to need some help from the other guys to stay in this deal. I said that in the post-race interview at Charlotte.

“Even after winning Charlotte we were still 20-something points out, and we’re going to need some help to catch these guys. Now there are two guys in front of us, but the gap is still about the same after finishing fifth and sixth two weeks in a row. It’s tough! These guys are tough.

“Winning a championship in the Cup Series is tough to do, and we’re finding that out the hard way by running good and not making up spots. We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing. We’ve had a phenomenal summer and fall. The last 20 races or so have been pretty good. We’ll just keep plugging away, and hopefully they’ll mess up and we are there to capitalize.”

Bowyer will be wheeling proven cars in the next two races. He’ll drive the Charlotte race winner Sunday at Texas and the Richmond race winner the following week at Phoenix.

“Homestead – we’ll just have to see what happens,” Pattie said. “We totally reworked the Richmond car to get it ready. The guys here are all-in. The guys in the fab shop and body shop have given me everything I’ve asked for. These guys are working hard at the shop, and they want to win just as bad as I do. It’s cool that when we go to the race track we know that we have 250 employees behind us. Whatever we want to do – they are all for it.”

The odds are tall for Bowyer. No one has made up 26 points to win the title in the final three races since Dale Earnhardt passed Mark Martin for the title in 1990, and that was under the pre-Chase point system.

Bowyer hasn’t won at any of the three remaining tracks, although he has finished second at Texas and Phoenix.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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