Clint Bowyer 17th in Martinsville

Race Winner:      Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner:  Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner:  Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-130):

● Clint Bowyer started fourth and finished second to earn nine bonus points.

● Bowyer dropped to eighth then charged to third before the lap-60 competition caution.

● He moved to second on the restart then began turning some of the fastest laps on the track.

● No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang stayed at the front of the pack finishing the stage in second.

● Bowyer and the top-five cars stayed on the track during the stage break to keep track position.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 131-260):

● Bowyer started second and finished 19th.

● Stage 2 ran without caution penalizing the drivers with older tires who stayed on the track after Stage 1.  

● Bowyer fell through the field reporting his car was too loose and couldn’t drive off the corners.  

● Bowyer dropped to 19th and off the lead lap with 12 laps left in the stage.

● Bowyer pitted for tires, fuel and adjustments to improve the handling during the stage break.  

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Final Stage Recap (Laps 261-500):

● Bowyer started 17th and finished 17th.

● The No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang earned the free pass back to the lead lap when the caution flew on lap 325.

● Bowyer continued to struggle with handling despite moving to 12th midway through the stage.

● Bowyer faded to 17th and fell off the lead lap with 44 laps remaining.

● He finished 17th – one lap behind the winner.

 

Notes:

●  Martin Truex Jr. won the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 to score his 27th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second at Martinsville. His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Blaney was 4.705 seconds.

●  There were seven caution periods for a total of 52 laps.

●  Only 14 of the 39 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

●  Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after Martinsville with a 28-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

 

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“That was a tough night for us. I don’t know if we were chasing the track or what. We went from one of the fastest cars to one of the worst. I didn’t have any turn, zero right rear grip and just couldn’t get the power down.”

 

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Homestead 400 on Sunday, June 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

 

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