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CLINT BOWYER – 2020 New Hampshire I Race Report

Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (Round 20 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)

Format: 301 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/110 laps/116 laps)

Start/Finish: 6th/18th (Running, completed 301 of 301 laps)

Point Standing: 12th with 512 points, 291 out of first

 

Race Winner:      Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner:  Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner:  Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

 Clint Bowyer started sixth and finished seventh to earn four bonus points.

● The No. 14 Haas Automation Ford jumped to third on the opening lap before contact with Denny Hamlin dropped him to fifth.

● Bowyer pitted for tires during the lap-17 caution and restarted 14th.

● Bowyer stayed on the track during the lap-30 competition caution and moved to sixth. Told crew he needed the car to turn better.

● Bowyer moved to fourth on the restart and then survived contact with Jimmie Johnson on lap 62 that brought out another caution.

● During the stage break, Bowyer pitted for tires and fuel as well as more adjustments to help his car turn.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-185):

 Bowyer started 27th and finished sixth to earn five bonus points.

● The No. 14 Haas Automation Ford climbed to 24th when rain slowed the race on lap 92.

● Bowyer stayed on the track and moved from 24th to fourth during the caution. 

● The Kansas native dropped to eighth by lap 120 losing positions to cars with fresher tires.

● Bowyer started saving fuel late in the stage and was on the verge of pitting when a caution came on lap 171.  

● After another caution, the race restarted with two laps left in the stage and Bowyer in ninth.  

● The veteran driver used some nifty driving over the last two laps to climb to sixth by the end of the stage.

● Bowyer stayed on the track during the stage break.

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Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-301):

 Bowyer started sixth and finished 18th.

● Bowyer reported his car was very loose at the start of the final stage and dropped to ninth.

● The No. 14 Haas Automation Ford pitted with 95 laps to go and restarted 15th.

● Bowyer reported even greater handling issues and held 15th-place with 50 laps to go.

● With no cautions over the final 83 laps, the crew couldn’t make handling adjustments and Bowyer finished 18th.

 

Notes:

● By staying 12th in the point standings, Bowyer will start in the top 12 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Aug. 8.

● Bowyer is a two-time winner at New Hampshire (September 2007 and September 2010).

● Brad Keselowski won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 to score his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 1.647 seconds.

● This was Ford’s series-leading 11th NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and its 697th all-time Cup Series victory.

● This was Ford’s 15th NASCAR Cup Series victory at New Hampshire and its third straight. Kevin Harvick won the past two races at New Hampshire (2018 and 2019).

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 52 laps. Twenty of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after New Hampshire with an 81-point advantage over second-place Keselowski.

 

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We got some bonus points in the first two stages today and we’re still in the top 12. We’ll go to Michigan this week and I know our Fords like that place a lot.”

 

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a doubleheader Aug. 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The FireKeepers Casino 400 starts at 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 8 and the Consumers Energy 400 begins at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. Live coverage of both will be provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.