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CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Michigan I Race Report

Event:               FireKeepers 400 (Round 15 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (2-mile oval)
Format:             200 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/80 laps)
Start/Finish:      3rd / 26th (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 12th (391 points, 249 out of first) 

Race Winner:    Kyle Larson of Chip Ganassi Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner:             Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

  • Clint Bowyer started third, finished sixth to earn five race points.
  • Climbed to second on lap 12 after a restart.
  • Reported his car grew looser as the stage progressed. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):

  • Started sixth, finished fifth to earn six race points.
  • Team made tire pressure adjustments to improve handling issues.
  • Bowyer turned top-five lap times in the second half of stage. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 121-200):

  • Started fifth, finished 26th.
  • Dropped to ninth on a restart and reported his car was tight in traffic.
  • Pitted for four tires and fuel under caution and restarted 12th with 47 to go.
  • Bowyer moved from 12th to eighth during the next two laps.
  • Restarted the race in seventh with 15 laps remaining.
  • With 12 laps remaining, right-side contact with the wall forced Bowyer to pit lane for repairs. 

Notes:

  • Third-place start equaled Bowyer’s best of the season.
  • He rarely raced outside the top-10 throughout therace.
  • Cars were turning laps speeds in excess of 195 mph.
  • Eight cautions slowed the race for 34 laps.
  • Kyle Larson won the FireKeepers 400 to score his third career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his second at Michigan.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We were sitting there seventh with 20 laps to go reeling them in thinking this was our day, and then a debris caution forces a restart. Restarts are the only times you can pass, so everyone was racing hard, and I got into the wall. It killed our day.”

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Save Mart 350 on Sunday, June 25 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.