Event: Pocono Organics 325 (Round 14 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Format: 130 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/52 laps/53 laps)
Start/Finish: 18th/7th (Running, completed 130 of 130 laps)
Point Standing: 13th with 358 points, 176 out of first
Race Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Aric Almirola of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):
● Clint Bowyer started 18th and finished 20th.
● Bowyer reported his car was too loose and pitted from 18th during the lap-12 competition caution.
● The Mobil 1 Ford restarted the race in 24th, but couldn’t make much progress through the field.
● Despite another caution at lap 17, Bowyer climbed to 20th by the end of the stage.
● During the stage break, Bowyer took on right side tires and more adjustments to help the handling.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-77):
● Bowyer started 24th and finished 14th.
● Bowyer continued to struggle with a loose car, dropping to 28th in the opening laps.
● Bowyer moved to 11th during a green-flag pit cycle interrupted by a caution with 13 laps to go in the stage.
● The No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford pitted during the caution for more adjustments and restarted 21st.
● Bowyer used the improved handling to move to 14th before the end of the stage.
● Bowyer stayed on the track during the stage break and moved to 11th..
Final Stage Recap (Laps 78-130):
● Bowyer started 11th and finished 7th.
● Dropped to 15th at the start of the stage amid four and five-wide racing.
● No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford pitted under green with 36 laps left in the race.
● Bowyer began turning some of his fastest laps of the race catching several cars in the closing laps.
● Bowyer moved to seventh with 10 to go, and looked like he might get to fifth, but a vibration slowed his pace in the late going.
Notes:
● Bowyer earned his fourth top-10 of the season and his 12th top-10 in 29 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.
● This was Bowyer’s fourth straight top-11 at Pocono. He finished 11th in the series’ previous visit to the track last July.
● Since joining SHR in 2017, Bowyer has not finished outside the top-20 at Pocono.
● Harvick’s victory marked the 77th overall win for SHR. It was the organization’s 58th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series win, its third of the season, and its third at Pocono.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 21 laps.
● Twenty-one of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Harvick remains the championship leader after Pocono with a 29-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.
Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“That was a struggle early today for our Mobil 1 Ford. We were really loose and in traffic we were terrible. But I think we found our direction in the last part of the race. We had a vibration late or I think we could have gotten more spots. What a swing! (Crew Chief) Johnny Klausmeier and my guys did a good job calling the race. Glad Kevin could get the win. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Next Up:
The second event of the NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono is the Pocono 350 on Sunday, June 28. The race starts at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
