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RICHMOND, Va. – NASCAR’s most eligible free agent Clint Bowyer was all smiles and chuckles Friday morning while meeting with the NASCAR media before opening practice for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway.
“It’s that time of the year right? It’s fun times, a cool race track,” Bowyer said. “From the first time I ever came here I remember making laps around here thinking, ‘Man, this is a perfect size race track.’ It’s always raced well and I’ve always had a lot of fun as we’re making laps around here. “Couldn’t think of a better place to come to try to seal the deal and get ourselves into this Chase. It’s something that I’m very proud of having a shot at being a part of it and looking forward to the races after that.”
The perennially ebullient Bowyer has maintained a brave face and optimistic outlook despite having an uncertain future – both in the near and long-term. His Chase berth and championship quest is unique among the title contenders. He is simultaneously hoping to mount a championship run while looking for a new job.
Bowyer’s first priority is making the 16-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. Saturday night’s race will settle the postseason grid, and he holds the most tenuous position — the 16th and final spot with a 29-point edge over 17th place Aric Almirola.
Beyond this weekend, Bowyer needs to find a new team as his Michael Waltrip Racing organization granted his release for 2016 and announced it would not be fielding Sprint Cup cars beyond this season.
And to Bowyer’s credit, his phone has been ringing.
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“It’s humbling the people that have reached out and been interested in me, but truth be told man, look what we’re in the middle of,” Bowyer said. “Timing is good that it’s ahead and not the end of the year that you’re finding this out, but nonetheless it’s pretty crunching times right here and it’s like I told them, ‘I don’t want to use the word ‘back burner,’ but let’s just take a timeout right here for a couple weeks and take care of business.’ That’s kind of what we did this week.”
Bowyer joked that he expects a minimum of “27 different scenarios and not one less” as the rumor mill hits full speed predicting where he will wind up next year.
However, in the meantime, Bowyer’s commitment and focus remains on the quest for the Sprint Cup, something he nearly won in 2012 when he finished second to Brad Keselowski.
He insists keeping that focus is easier then you’d think.
“The racer in you – that’s what I love about this sport – the competitive racing nature of it just prevails,” he said. “Obviously people have families to provide for and a future to worry about but they’re doing so. … They’re working on their futures and that’s exactly what I intended for them and hoped that they would do. All the while still digging as hard as they can and getting our cars where they need to be to compete for a championship.”
Bowyer said there was never a formal discussion or sit-down meeting with his No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota team. But he did take the initiative to speak with them informally as a group and remind them their performance and efforts right now have never been more important to their careers. A Chase berth and postseason success could mean all the difference.
“I said, ‘Listen, our futures together are uncertain, mine included, but the one thing I can say is if we come together here and work our butts off we can be a part of this Chase together and that’s only going to build all of our brands so we can go out and be best we can be and get the best opportunity for someone to hire us.’ “
There is precedent for a happy ending.
Carl Edwards qualified for and finished ninth in the Chase with Roush Fenway Racing last year — despite announcing in July he was leaving the team.
Even more dramatically, crew chief Darian Grubb led Tony Stewart to five wins in the 10 Chase races en route to the 2011 championship despite the two agreeing to part ways before the Chase schedule began.
That’s the kid of motivational example Bowyer is counting on for his team, too.
“At that point it’s going to go one of two ways,” Bowyer said of receiving the initial news about the MWR split. “Everyone was so tense and under so much pressure all season long, so it was like, ‘Listen guys, let’s hit the re-set button, focus on the task at hand and go get this for all of us.
“You’ve got to end that worry and say something to get that turned around so everyone can have confidence and that momentum. It charged them up and certainly our results in the last month and a half have shown that.”
