Clint Bowyer No. 15 RK Motors Toyota Daytona Preview

Friday marks the day the United States officially commemorates our independence from foreign rule. A national holiday, July 4th is celebrated in a number of ways including picnics, parades and in most cases with fireworks.

For more than 50 years NASCAR has marked the occasion by bringing its biggest stars to the World Center of Racing, Daytona International Speedway. Fireworks are sure to fly on and off the track as 43 cars barrel through the 31-degree banked turns vying for top real estate at speeds reaching 200 mph at times.

Bowyer and his No. 15 RK Motors Toyota team know that anything can and typically does happen at restrictor plate races. While he has never won at Daytona, he has posted respectable results, finishing in the top-10 in seven of the 17 races he has run at the track. At Talladega in April, he posted a third-place finish after putting himself in position for the win.

With a fireworks display a guarantee after Saturday night’s race, Bowyer hopes he has a prime spot to watch them- in Daytona’s victory lane.

How does the weather impact the Daytona race in July?
“It does and that is the cool thing about any repave — it’s probably one of the oldest repaves that we’ve had since all this. The worst they are ever going to be is that first race and they just keep getting better and better with age. Certainly, Daytona is no exception.  I can remember back in February people were starting to slip and slide around and you heard us complaining about handling issues again — that’s healthy.”

What did you learn from Talladega qualifying to use in Daytona?

“I learned to screw our game plan — we all tried to go out there and help each other.  Nine times out of 10 when you over analyze that and try to over think it you don’t get a good result. One of those single car teams or something like that can go out and capitalize on another team trying to do that is always going to prevail. For me, I’m just going to go out there and put a lap down and hang my helmet up and go to the beach and get ready for Saturday night.”

MWR PR