Around the Track: Miami

Nextel Cup rookie Clint Bowyer finished 33rd last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway after a faulty oil line spoiled another potential top-10 finish.

That left him 17th in points and spoiled almost any chance of attaining his goal of getting back into the top 15.

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Now he heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season finale where he finished eighth in the Busch Series in 2005 and 39th in 2004.

In Jack Daniel's "Around the Track,'' Bowyer addresses each week's venue, as well as his philosophies on racing and life in general around NASCAR.

It's been a long year running my first Nextel Cup Series as well as the Busch Series, but it's been a lot of fun.

It's kind of funny. Looking back, the really big races we really ran well except for Talladega. We were sixth in the Daytona 500 to start the season and came back with a 10th in the second race.

We were fourth at Indianapolis, which was probably the highlight of the season.

All the big races that a driver and team would want to run well at we ran well.

It's been kind of frustrating to be honest, especially the latter part of the year. Going to some of these tracks a second time, our speed and performance was definitely where it needed to be. We ran inside the top 10 a lot. We just struggled to get the finish at the end.

If most of these races ended 20 laps sooner we'd have had a lot more top-10s. I don't know what happens. There are six or seven that we lost a top-10 in the last 10 to 15 laps.

We easily could be looking at a top-12 finish in points. It doesn't take much. That's what we've got to do a better job of next year. When we have a bad day we need to get a 15th-place finish out of it instead of trying to get more and getting 30th.

There are so many things I learned, like how to race with these guys, how long these races are and how hard they are, how one little mistake on any part of the team can ruin the whole day for you.

Inside the Numbers Bowyer's 2006 stats Track Start Finish Laps Status Daytona 37 6 203 running Fontana 32 14 251 running Las Vegas 20 15 270 running Atlanta 16 27 324 running Bristol 27 29 495 running Martinsville 42 22 496 running Texas 12 19 333 running Phoenix 8 5 312 running Talladega 15 40 16 crash Richmond 20 10 400 running Darlington 3 23 365 running Lowe's 15 19 399 running Dover 22 17 400 running Pocono 42 21 200 running Michigan 9 39 86 running Infineon 28 16 110 running Daytona 30 10 160 running Chicago 38 9 270 running Loudon 31 27 307 running Pocono 14 41 194 running Indy 2 4 160 running The Glen 14 14 90 running Michigan 29 33 197 engine Bristol 27 38 415 running Fontana 3 3 250 running Richmond 16 12 400 running Loudon 18 24 299 running Dover 16 8 400 running Kansas 6 9 267 running 'Dega 32 35 63 accident Lowe's 8 23 329 running Martinsville 37 23 500 running Atlanta 18 25 325 running Texas 14 5 339 running Phoenix 20 33 306 oil

But I feel like I've earned respect, which is important. I've given those guys that run up front all the time as much room and respect as I can out there. If the guy is faster than me a hundred laps into the race I'm going to pull over and let him go.

I only had one what you might call controversial incident, when Tony Stewart and I got into it at Pocono after he wrecked me and Carl Edwards for no reason at all. That wasn't necessarily my fault at all.

That was the most frustrating moment of the season. We were trying to stay close to the top 10 in points and that all but ended any chance we had.

It's a long season and so much can happen when you're racing hard. To be fast you're on the edge of driving out of control and on the edge of driving over your head. It's a fine line.

No doubt the most fun we had was at Indy. To go there for my first race, such a huge race, and to start on the front row and finish fourth ... that was a pretty good success for us.

The biggest disappointment was we didn't get a win. We're there to win races. Our day will come.

I'm looking forward to the offseason. I'm going to do a lot of testing and do as much as I can to stay in the grind and stay focused on next year.

I'm sure I'll spend some time with family and friends, but honestly I feel like we've come a long ways and I'm ready to take that next step to make the top 10 in points.

We have all of the pieces to the puzzle. We've just got to put it together.

My hat's off to Denny Hamlin winning rookie of the year honors. Winning one race is unbelievable. Winning two and being in the Chase and fourth in the points, those guys did an unbelievable job.

It's our job to step it up next year and not only outrun them but outrun a lot of other guys.

We're running well right now. Our team is really gelling and our cars are good.

In a way, I'm glad the season is over. But in a way I'm wishing it was starting up the week after Homestead.