Clint Bowyer Moseying Toward His Place in Chase for the Sprint Cup

Filed under: Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCARRICHMOND, Va. -- Sporting a cat-ate-the-canary grin and a hint of swagger, Clint Bowyer moseyed into the press room at Richmond International Speedway Friday morning and all but declared that his berth is secure in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.

"What is it 100, 117, 107 points? I don't even know, but I've got a pretty good pad,'' Bowyer said. "With any luck at all -- any luck at all -- we'll be in this thing. If we're not, I'd say it was not meant to be.''

Interestingly enough, it is exactly the same philosophy his closest challenger Ryan Newman is employing for Saturday's Air Guard 400, the final race to set the 12-driver Chase.

"I don't know what the math is, but I can't expect to have it (points deficit) all made up in one race,'' Newman said.

Bowyer holds a 117-point advantage over 13th place Newman in the Sprint Cup Series standings and would be the final driver to qualify for the 10-race Chase playoff that begins next weekend in New Hampshire.

Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray is 128 points back and Mark Martin is still mathematically eligible, 147 points behind Bowyer.

The only drama Saturday night would be if Bowyer somehow did not maintain his position. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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