Clint Bowyer Enjoying Role As The ‘Hunter’

Column By: NASCAR – BRISTOL, TN – Clint Bowyer’s bubble picture looks OK. Not great, but OK. He doesn’t exactly need a win to make the playoffs, but that’s certainly the easiest path.

And coming into this season, that’s as much as you could ask for when it came to the veteran of 12 full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series seasons.

Entering 2017, Bowyer has finished outside the top 15 in points in three consecutive seasons, and last year endured his worst season, finishing 27th.

But a renewed optimism enveloped the Kansas native, as he joined powerhouse Stewart-Haas Racing, with Ford as its new manufacturer.

Now, Bowyer’s a contender, and only 31 points outside the all-important final playoff spot. If you ask him, he should be better.

“We’ve come close to victory several times this year,” said Bowyer. “That’s what can be so frustrating. You are only one or two spots away from where you want to be, but there’s a huge difference between first and everything else in this business.”

The good news: Bristol’s on deck with Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC). Bowyer finished second in the Monster Energy Series’ first trip to Bristol in April, and has top 10s in three of the last four races at the Tennessee short track (and in the top five in two of those).

“I’m the hunter, not the hunted,” he said. “So it’s a lot of fun to go into this weekend knowing that you’ve got to go out there and chase that guy down or chase those guys down and, hopefully, pop off a win here and just put it all to bed.”

Annett Hoping To Stay On The Right Side Of The Bubble

JR Motorsport’s driver Michael Annett is once again on the hot seat – residing in the 12th and final playoff spot in the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings.

Still, the position could be worse. He is a somewhat comfortable 34 points ahead of 13th-place Ryan Sieg. In 21 starts this season, Annett has posted five top 10s and an average finish of 18.1.

Fortunately for Annett, he has outperformed his closest combatants at Bristol, posting an average finish of 13.6 at the half-mile compared to the average finishes of Ryan Sieg (20.1).

And in Friday night’s Food City 300 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN), Annett will have a little more motivation. His boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr., will compete in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for the first time in 2017, driving the No. 88 Goody’s Mixed Fruit Blast Chevrolet.

“After two road courses in a row, it will be nice to get back to what we do the majority of the season,” Annett said. “I’ve run pretty well at Bristol in the past, and we were 10th in the spring, so we’ll take our [No. 5] Pilot Flying J Chevy up there this weekend and try to do it again. The playoffs are approaching, and it’s time to get some momentum going.”