Bowyer maintains quiet position as Chase spoiler

HAMPTON, Ga. -- While a handful of Chase drivers have managed to extinguish their championship aspirations, Clint Bowyer continues to hang on.

He refuses to become a lame duck in the Chase for the Cup.

"I would say we got a lot of a break [Sunday]," Bowyer said. "I feel bad for [Martin] Truex [Jr.] and Kyle Busch and those guys. Clearly they had the cars to beat Sunday and ended up way back and Truex didn't finish."

Bowyer did.

The Richard Childress Racing driver finished sixth in Sunday's Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and maintained his third-place spot in the Chase behind leader Jeff Gordon and second-place Jimmie Johnson.

Bowyer said he feels fortunate things are going his way at the right time, despite an obvious trend this season where Chase drivers are being collected in random wrecks and unfortunate pit-road mishaps.

Sunday's race was no different.

"That was pretty wild," Bowyer said of the last restart of the race where Denny Hamlin slowed to a glacial pace on the frontstretch after a fuel problem.

Following that incident, a tire on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Chevy came off and went rolling down the track as Earnhardt slammed the wall and collected Jamie McMurray with him. It all allowed Bowyer to improve his position on the track as cars began dodging the misfortunes.

"You have to at least be there to take advantage of it if somebody does have trouble," he said. "Unfortunately we weren't as good as we like, but it was a decent finish."

Bowyer, who stayed out during the final round of pit stops while the leaders went in, said he was lucky to garner a top-10 finish because his car wasn't that great; it was too lose and the balance was off.

"It would swing lose and tight way too easy," he said. "Didn't have enough grip. Usually when that happens, there isn't a real cure for that while you are out there on the track and on pit road."

Arguably, Bowyer, 111 points away from Gordon in the Chase, is one of the last few drivers who in theory could still have a chance at the championship.

In his second Cup Series season, the 28-year-old from Kansas is likely providing the last bit of intrigue in a Chase where fans have already placed their bets on either Gordon or Johnson.

Tony Stewart's 30th-place finish in Sunday's race isn't going to bring home a third championship for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, and despite his best effort, Carl Edwards is still 261 points behind Gordon.

Bowyer is more than happy to be the spoiler.

"What we have to do is keep digging," he said. "We can't give up, we didn't give up [Sunday] and we won't give up."