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CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Daytona II Race Report

Event:               Coke Zero 400 (Round 17 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Format:             160 laps, broken into three stages (40 laps/40 laps/80 laps)
Start/Finish:      11th/2nd (Running, completed 163 of 163 laps)
Point Standing: 10th (469 points, 198 out of first) 

Race Winner:    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush Fenway Racing in overtime (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-40):

  • Clint Bowyer started 11th and finished fourth to earn seven stage points.
  • Bowyer battled his way into the top-five by lap six.
  • Ran as high as second and ran in and around the top-five for the majority of the stage. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 41-80):

  • Started eighth, finished 29th.
  • Bowyer began the stage battling among the top-five.
  • Bowyer fell out of the pack during the middle of Stage 2 and was pushed toward the back of the field.
  • During a lap-71 caution, Bowyer pitted for four tires, fuel and track bar adjustments, then pitted again on lap 74 to top off on fuel. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 81-163):

  • Started 10th, finished second.
  • After a multicar accident on lap 106, Bowyer opted not to pit and restarted his No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion in first place.
  • Bowyer ran in and around the top-five until accident on lap 154. He restarted in the seventh position.
  • A caution on lap 159 pushed the race into overtime. Bowyer restarted in the fifth position and clawed his way to second. 

Notes:

  • This was Bowyer’s fourth top-five and 12th top-10 in 24 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Daytona.
  • Bowyer earned his third top-two, fourth top-five and seventh top-10 of 2017 with his second-place finish at Daytona.
  • This was Bowyer’s second consecutive second-place finish. He finished second last week at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
  • There were 14 caution periods for a total of 51 laps.
  • Twenty-one of the 40 drivers in the Coke Zero 400 presented by Coca-Cola finished on the lead lap.
  • Kyle Larson leads the championship standings with 667 points and has an 18-point margin over his nearest pursuer, Martin Truex Jr.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Wow, what a night. A fun race. Our Mobil 1 Ford was strong. I got shuffled out on that second stage, and that bummed me out. I wanted those stage points. It wasn’t that big of a deal because I knew that we had a hot rod to get back up front. Man, it’s just every man for himself. You’re beating and banging both sides of the car. It was a good night. These bridesmaid finishes suck. I want to win. We’re in this business to win. That’s what Tony (Stewart) and Gene (Haas) pay me to do. I’m proud of everyone on the Mobil 1 Ford team.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Quaker State 400 presented by Advanced Auto Parts on Saturday, July 8 at Kentucky Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.