With Chase berth secure, Bowyer eyes a bigger prize

RICHMOND, Va. -- Clint Bowyer was too busy throughout Sunday afternoon's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway to take the time to consider that it was a virtual microcosm of his Sprint Cup season.

In the end, the relief for Bowyer, crew chief Gil Martin and their Richard Childress Racing crew was palpable as they secured their spot, for the second consecutive season, as the third RCR car in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Standings

Tiebreaker is best finishes beyond race victories

Pos.	Driver	Points
1.	Kyle Busch	5,080
2.	Carl Edwards	5,050
3.	Jimmie Johnson	5,040
4.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	5,010
5.	Clint Bowyer	5,010
6.	Denny Hamlin	5,010
7.	Jeff Burton	5,010
8.	Tony Stewart	5,000
9.	Greg Biffle	5,000
10.	Jeff Gordon	5,000
11.	Kevin Harvick	5,000
12.	Matt Kenseth	5,000

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"It's huge -- this is a big deal," Bowyer said in between accepting congratulations on pit road from Martin and car owner Richard Childress, handshakes from his crewmen and a vigorous hug from teammate Jeff Burton, who's had some contentious moments with Bowyer this season (watch video). "We wanted to be a part of [the Chase] and I'm really proud of all the guys for digging deep and making the extra effort. It's been a long summer, and this is a good way to pay things back."

Bowyer was one of four drivers who came into the 26th race of the season in varying degrees of close to getting pushed out of the fifth annual Chase. Bowyer was 12th, only 17 points clear of David Ragan. Denny Hamlin (11th, 93 ahead), Jeff Gordon (10th, 102 ahead) and Matt Kenseth (ninth, 109 ahead) were the others.

But if Bowyer, who won the second Cup race of his career at this .750-mile oval in May, could have contemplated his season- and race-long fortunes as he soldiered into a 12th-place finish, he would have come to the conclusion that the race and season have mirrored each other.

On Sunday, Bowyer's No. 07 Chevrolet was a fixture out front for the first half of the race, much as the season's first half, when Bowyer moved into the top 10 in the fifth race of the year and then to fourth -- his highest point in the standings -- after winning the Crown Royal 400 here in May. But from the first Richmond event to this point, Bowyer hasn't led another lap. And in the 16 races since, he's had eight finishes of 20th or worse as he's struggled to get back into the top 10 in the standings.

"Like I said, it's been a long summer for us," Bowyer said. "We got down and you get to digging and trying a lot of things trying to catch up and you get to chasing your tail -- and that's certainly where we were at. We've had some momentum and had some good runs here in the last two or three weeks that kept us in this thing, so we're capable of doing it. I think we've proven that before. We've just got to get together here and keep together and we can do it."

Bowyer's finish left him 69 points clear of current 13th-place man Kasey Kahne while Kenseth fell to 11th, 85 points ahead of Kahne after being involved in a wreck when Ragan got high entering Turn 1 and spun. Kenseth finished 39th.

Gordon had an up-and-down day that ended in eighth and left him 10th in the points, 174 clear of Kahne. Hamlin scored his third consecutive third-place finish and jumped to ninth before the standings were reset for the Chase. (Continued)