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HAMPTON, Ga. – Clint Bowyer stood on pit road following his third-place finish as the fireworks popped and exploded in front of him and his teammate Kevin Harvick celebrated his win following Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.
Minutes after climbing out of his No. 14 Ford, the sprinkles of rain began to trickle from the sky. After squeezing in the race following a rain delay, the timing was impeccable.
“Mother Nature’s a race fan, I guess,” Bowyer said with a grin.
Perhaps a fan of Stewart-Haas Racing, too – all four SHR cars placed in the top 13 on Sunday, with Kurt Busch finishing eighth and newcomer Aric Almirola coming up 13th.
Bowyer, who received congrats from Almirola on pit road, said it was a “breath of fresh air.”
“We had a really good car all weekend long and that’s how you have to do it … you have to unload off the truck competitive and (that) attests to everybody’s hard work in the offseason,” he said. “All four cars – ALL four cars – unloaded good and were good all weekend long.
“I couldn’t go early quite like my teammate Kevin and some of those other guys but long runs were my game for the day. Just proud of these guys. … Everybody working together, you know what I mean? It’s fun to be a part of that.”
The 2018 season marks the sophomore year of Stewart-Haas’ switch to Ford from Chevrolet. Crew chiefs and drivers spoke of the transition and quick turnaround last year – and Sunday’s race showed that the learning curve isn’t as steep as it was at this time last season.
“I’m just proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas,” SHR Vice President of Competition Greg Zipadelli said. “In the last year or so from the switchover to this year with the (Optical Scanning Station) and learning procedures and putting things in place, crew chiefs working together, everybody in our shop working to build good race cars …
“It’s a feel-good at this moment. We had great cars at Daytona; these guys did a really good job (and) circumstances took them out. We came here and unloaded and had speed.”
Heading into the second race of the season – and the first at a mile-and-a-half track – No. 4 crew chief Rodney Childers didn’t know how his team or the rest of the SHR fleet would fare with all new elements.
With a win likely writing the No. 4 team’s ticket into the Playoffs, what Sunday’s trip to Victory Lane means is more “time to work on our stuff and get it better.”
“I think as a race team, the 4 team’s mentality has always been to try to win a race in the first five races,” he said. “… I had no idea if we were going to run good or bad when we showed up. You don’t know where everybody else is with their stuff. You don’t know if you got more downforce, less downforce, more grip or less grip — you don’t know any of that stuff. You’ve just got to get through a few races. But even now, like Zippy said, this isn’t a good indication of what we have as a company. We need to get through a few weeks and keep working hard and reevaluate where we’re at.”
Zipadelli also spoke of the room to grow for each of the four teams as the season progresses.
“It’s a moving target,” he said. “We’re going to go to Vegas with some momentum and some decent race tracks for us coming up … as a group, I think it gives us a little confidence working together … but by no means is that a victory for the year.”
But on Sunday, it was a victory for the whole Stewart-Haas Racing organization – and for the “Freaky Fast” No. 4 team. Even his own teammate couldn’t catch Harvick.
“Pretty sure nobody did,” Bowyer said, laughing when asked if anyone had anything for the No. 4 team. “He was just crazy fast.”