Bowyer Closes Out 2009 with 11th-Place Finish at Homestead
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Clint Bowyer and the Cheerios/Hamburger Helper team
capped off their 2009 season with an 11th-place finish in Sunday's
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Bowyer's 22nd top-15 finish of the season allowed him to finish 15th in
the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. All told, Bowyer's
2009 records show four top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.
Bowyer kicked off the weekend by recording the third-fastest time in
Friday's opening practice session and, later that afternoon, recorded a
lap of 31.425 seconds at an average speed of 171.838 mph in time trials
to place him 10th on the starting grid for Sunday's race.
From the drop of the green flag, the Emporia, Kan., native wasted
little time advancing toward the front of the field. Despite fighting a
loose-handling condition, Bowyer worked his way to fifth in the opening
five laps. He would maintain his position until green-flag pit stops
began at lap 50, when quick work by the Helping Hands pit crew allowed
their driver to assume the race lead when the cycle of stops completed.
Bowyer's presence on-point was limited, as his Richard Childress Racing
teammate Kevin Harvick passed him for the position just one lap later.
Bowyer continued to make his presence known, holding his place inside
the top-five for the majority of the first half of the race, despite
making contact with the Turn 4 wall.
As the race entered the middle stages, a rash of cautions broke out,
slowing the pace of the event. Suffering from the effects of the
body damage and the setting sun, Bowyer's efforts were bolstered by
consistently fast pit stops.
With the conclusion of the 267-lap event nearing, Bowyer once again
made contact with the outside retaining wall, further complicating his
handling woes. Despite the odds, Bowyer showed his adversity by hanging
on to take the checkered flag 11th.
Denny Hamlin picked up his fourth win of the 2009 season, beating
Bowyer's RCR teammate Jeff Burton to the checkered flag by 2.632
seconds. Harvick, Kurt Busch and 2009 champion Jimmie Johnson rounded
out the top-five finishers.
Bowyer's other RCR teammate Casey Mears finished 19th.
CLINT BOWYER:
"It was a tough night for the Cheerios/Hamburger Helper team, but the
guys never quit and we came out of here with a respectable finish. This
wasn't the season we hoped to have, but we came out of the box with a
brand-new team, and I can't say enough about Shane Wilson (crew chief)
and the team he's assembled. We finished the season on a strong note as
a whole. I think we've shown that Richard Childress and everyone at RCR
have worked hard to get things back to where we need them to be. We're
looking forward to 2010, where we can head to Daytona with a clean slate
and start over again."
-credit: rcr
