NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Bowyer Riding Bounce From Charlotte
Clint Bowyer looking to move up if leaders stumble…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted October 19, 2012   Kansas City, KS
Clint Bowyer is fourth in Sprint Cup points. (Photo: Getty Images)
Clint Bowyer isn’t in the best of situations as far as challenging for the Sprint Cup championship. He’s in fourth, 28 points behind leader Brad Keselowski.

But Bowyer figures he’s in it until he’s officially out of it, and the bounce from last week’s victory at Charlotte could keep him rolling toward the front of the standings if the top three – Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin – stumble.

And Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at the freshly repaved and reconfigured Kansas Speedway will offer many chances to stumble.

"Here's the thing – five races, that's a lot of racing,” Bowyer said Friday. “There's a tremendous amount of racing left. When you think about it, there's only five races left, but at the end of the day that's a lot of racing.

“This is going to be a wild-card race. Just like I said, track position and playing your cards right – no tires, fuel only, two tires, four tires, when to do that, how to set yourself up for the end if it comes down to fuel mileage or whatever it comes down to.

“You're going to have to play your cards right and have a little bit of luck to see it through. I saw a hell of a wreck
yesterday (Hamlin’s crash in testing), and there could be some cautions in this race. If you get somebody loose and take the air off of them here, it just seems like the thing has so much grip and you're locked down the minute it gets up on top of the race track that you can't catch it, it just jumps out from underneath of you. It's crazy how fast that happens. You're literally still wide open, and
you're sideways going, 'Uh oh.' You haven't even lifted yet. You know you're in a world of hurt.”

Bowyer said he feels good about being on the upswing as the Chase moves into its second half.

“You never know what's going to happen, so 28 points out – it's a lot better than where we were leaving Talladega (40 points out),” he said. “I'm excited, pumped up, and I know the guys are. They're doing a good job. They are bringing good race cars, and we're doing everything we can do. This is pretty neat to be racing the teams and the caliber of programs that we're racing against and running with them. Proud."

Bowyer said being able to celebrate with members of his team after the Charlotte win provided a big spark.

“It's a lot of fun to be able to see them enjoy that, and I think that it's important for them to soak that in and really understand what victory is all about and how hard it is,” he said. “It's extremely hard to win these races. And to be able to win three of them here [in] our first year together is huge. So I think it's important to make sure that your guys take the time and soak it in and enjoy it. If you don't, you'll regret it."

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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