Clint Bowyer is focused on this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and is not worried about his plans for the 2021 season.
Bowyer will be making his ninth postseason appearance, and third consecutive with Stewart-Haas Racing, starting in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
“We’re working on the future, but honestly, it’s playoff time and I ain’t got time to worry about any of that stuff,” said Bowyer, who will drive a throwback car at Darlington to honor PEAK’s first NASCAR victory with Kyle Petty. “The worry is on Darlington this weekend and making sure that we’re capable of running for a win.”
Greg Zipadelli, Vice President of Competition at Stewart-Haas Racing, said earlier this week that the team will “hopefully have the same lineup that we do this year back.” One of the two pieces of that puzzle came together on Wednesday when Aric Almirola announced he will be returning with sponsor Smithfield.
Now in his fourth season with the team, Bowyer would like nothing more than to return to the No. 14 Ford.
“If I’m going to be in a racecar that’s where I want to be,” Bowyer said.
Bowyer will start the playoffs as the 13th seed. He ended the regular-season with sixth-place finishes in two of the last four races at the Daytona Road Course and Dover.
“Just looking forward to getting a playoff started,” Bowyer said. “This is a big deal, you know, and we’ve got ground to cover. We’ve been digging ourselves out of this hole that we put ourselves in and in the last month, we’ve really found a good shovel and been digging a lot. So really looking forward to riding this momentum we’ve been on.”
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Some of Bowyer’s best tracks based on average finish are in the first round, including Richmond and Bristol. Like Bristol, Bowyer is hoping to advance rounds where he particularly likes the tracks that have the elimination races.
“We ran second at Bristol again,” Bowyer said about his best finish of the season. “That doesn’t mean anything, but it’s got a little bit of confidence. I like this first round and then that (Charlotte) ROVAL kicking off the next one and then Martinsville is one of my best racetracks. I like those cutoffs.”
Sunday will mark Bowyer’s 17th start at Darlington where he only has recorded two top-10 finishes. He won both stages and led 71 laps in the second race there in May, but wound up 22nd in the end.
“I can’t ever finish at Darlington,” Bowyer said. “If you look at my average running position, I run well there. I can’t close the damn deal, but that’s what we need to work on.”
Along with Bowyer, SHR has all of its four drivers in the Playoffs led by regular-season champion Kevin Harvick.
“We’ve got to race to our capabilities within these playoff races,” Bowyer said. “If we can do that I’m telling you we can go rounds. I’ve said it time and time again, not every race team has capabilities. Our race team you can see the No. 4 (Harvick) out there and what Stewart-Haas Racing is capable of doing. We’ve got to clean up our mistakes with the 14 car and if we can do that, we’re capable of going out and doing the same thing they’re doing.”
