Richmond is Bowyer’s last opportunity to make the Chase
This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of one of the biggest scandals to rock NASCAR. Michael Waltrip Racing received the most severe penalties in the sport’s history for attempting to manipulate the outcome of the fall 2013 race at Richmond, in an effort to get Martin Truex Jr., who drove for the team at the time, into the Chase.
Bowyer, the driver of the No. 15 Toyota for MWR, spun out in the closing laps, triggering a whirlwind of controversy that forced NASCAR to thoroughly investigate the finish of the race. Two days after the Richmond event, NASCAR found no conclusive evidence that Bowyer’s spin was intentional, but the sanctioning body concluded, based on radio communications, that Brian Vickers, a MWR driver, was ordered by his spotter, Ty Norris, to pit just before the restart with three laps to go, giving up his running position. It helped Truex get a higher finishing position in the race and therefore earned him a Chase birth at that time.
However, as part of MWR’s penalties, Truex was docked 50 points, which bumped him out of the Chase. Ryan Newman replaced Truex in the wild card spot. Jeff Gordon was also added to the playoff field due to “an unprecedented and extraordinary set of circumstances that unfolded in multiple different ways” at Richmond.
Bowyer had already secured his spot in the 2013 Chase before the Richmond race. He ended up finishing the season seventh in the point standings.
Now, Bowyer is in desperate need of either winning at Richmond or getting a very good finish and hoping a few other drivers have a bad night here in order to make the Chase. Bowyer has been in the playoffs the past two years (his first two seasons with MWR). He finished second to champion Brad Keselowski in the 2012 Chase.
Before last Sunday’s race at Atlanta, Bowyer sat 15th on the Chase grid, but he suffered a broken shifter early in the event there and spent 20 laps in the garage for repairs before his return to the track. He ended up finishing 38th. Bowyer is currently 23 points behind Greg Biffle for the 16th and final spot on the provisional grid. Rookie Kyle Larson trails Biffle by 24 points.
“Desperation has definitely settled in,” Bowyer said. “It doesn’t matter though. It is what it is. You have to go out there and race as hard as you can. There’s nothing you can do. You can go out and give it our all. It’s going to take a team effort.”
When Bowyer met with the media on Friday afternoon at this three-quarter-mile track, he was asked about his memories of last year’s fall race here.
“That was a year ago,” he said. “I was downshifting last week [at Atlanta] and the only reason I remember last week is because the gear shifter was laying on the floor board over in the passenger side, and I got that chuckle out of myself. I said, ‘Boys, we are in big trouble. There is no shifter handle that shifts this bad boy on restarts.’ So, why you choose to be hung up on things that happen a year ago is beyond me.”
The fallout of the Richmond scandal led to more hardship for MWR later in the ’13 season. Longtime sponsor NAPA ended its partnership with MWR at the conclusion of the season, which forced the organization to downsize from three full-time teams to two for 2014. Truex and his crew chief, Chad Johnston, left the team, with Truex joining Furniture Row Racing and Johnston moving over to Stewart-Haas Racing to serve as Tony Stewart’s crew chief.
“You never want to create a storm in any sport or for anybody, any of your peers, your friends, your family, anybody, hell, for yourself,” Bowyer said. “Do you think I wanted to be in the middle of all of that mess?”
Richmond has been one of Bowyer’s best tracks in Sprint Cup, if not his best. Two of his eight career wins in the series have occurred here — May 2008 and September 2012.
“I like Richmond. It’s one of my better tracks,” he said. “There’s really no perfect setup the way the track is laid out. The turns are so different. What works in [turns] 1 and 2 doesn’t work in 3 and 4. You have to keep that in mind when you are giving feedback to help set up the car.
“As far as the Chase, I think it’s pretty much spelled out, from a points standpoint, what we have to do to make the Chase.”
Bowyer has been winless in the last 65 Sprint Cup races. His last victory happened nearly two years ago at Charlotte.
Forty-four teams are on the entry list for the Federated Auto Parts 400.
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday, Sept. 6. Race: Federated Auto Parts 400. Site: Richmond International Raceway. Track: 0.75-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. ET. Laps: 400. Miles: 300. 2013 Winner: Carl Edwards. Television: ABC. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
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