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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Bowyer Comes Up Big In Atlanta
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer finished seventh at Atlanta Motor Speedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 06, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Clint Bowyer finished seventh in Sunday night’s Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Clint Bowyer, take a deep breath, you’re as good as in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Bowyer, the 12th-place driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points, finished seventh in Sunday night’s Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That gave him a 117-point lead over 13th-place Ryan Newman headed into the last race of the Sprint Cup regular season next weekend at Richmond International Raceway.

Even if Newman wins at Richmond and leads the most laps, Bowyer will still advance to NASCAR’s playoff round if he finishes 28th or better, if he finishes 29th and leads at least one lap or finishes 31st or better and leads the most laps. Not a slam dunk, perhaps, but pretty close.

“That is absolutely what we needed,” said Bowyer after Sunday night’s race. “Man, I tell you, it was a hard-fought battle. The guys kept digging and kept digging. It was good in the daytime. As soon as it went to night, it got really, really loose. Just way down on grip. They kept adjusting on it and never gave it. The guys in the pits, they got us back up there where we needed to be. I am real proud of them. Good effort for the BB&T Chevrolet. Not what we wanted, but darn sure what we needed.”
VIDEO: Last Lap Cup - Atlanta Tony Stewart wins at AMS. (Image: SPEED)

That Bowyer managed a seventh-place finish was quite a turnaround, as he fell deep in the field midway in the race and appeared vulnerable to his challengers. But Bowyer’s Richard Childress Racing crew steadily improved his No. 33 Chevrolet as the race went on, allowing him to gain precious ground.

“It was a good run and I am really proud of the guys,” said Bowyer. “Kept digging, we were way off early in the race. But they kept digging, kept working on this BB&T Chevrolet. The guys in the pits did a great job.”

As for Newman, he finished eighth at Atlanta and all but conceded the final Chase slot to Bowyer. Asked if he could somehow pull off a miracle next week at Richmond, Newman said he didn’t think so.

“It's just another race. How do you expect to make it up in one race what we didn't do in 25 races?” Newman said. “ ... Mathematically, we have a chance and for an engineering guy I guess that means something. But I can only try my hardest and I did that tonight. We can't expect to make it all up in one shot.”

LINK> UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: EMORY HEALTHCARE 500 - ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
PDF > UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS: EMORY HEALTHCARE 500 - ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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