Mechanical issues for Clint Bowyer lead to early exit, hinder playoff hopes

RELATED: Playoff standings Clint Bowyer's playoff chances were dealt a significant blow Sunday, with his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Ford expiring early and ending its day in the garage at Darlington Raceway. Bowyer and the team indicated that engine failure was the cause of his last-place finish in the Bojangles' Southern 500. "As soon as I flipped the switch back on, it sounded terrible and I knew it was blowing up," Bowyer told NBCSN after completing just 18 laps. "Kind of the nature of the beast for me at Darlington. To be out like this this early pretty much sucks."   Bowyer initially reported to his crew that his car felt as if it was out of gas, according to NBCSN, and his car filled with smoke. The No. 14 Ford was pushed to the garage, where the issue was diagnosed as terminal. Bowyer, who entered this penultimate regular-season race 58 points below the playoff cutoff line, faces a must-win situation in the regular-season finale Saturday night at Richmond Raceway. Bowyer has won twice on the .75-mile Virginia track.   "Obviously, the way the playoffs look right now, we're not out of this thing," Bowyer said. "We’ve still got a good race track coming up for us. We’ll just go there and do the best we can and put all the cards on the table over there."