Bowyer Still Riding Wave of Momentum from Martinsville Win

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

For Clint Bowyer, his win two weeks ago at Martinsville has been just what the doctor ordered for him and his No. 14 team at Stewart-Haas Racing.

Entering this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, it’s clear that he and the organization as a whole are still riding the wave of momentum that comes with winning in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and breaking a 199-race winless streak in the process.

“Man, everybody knows everything that comes with a win,” said Bowyer. “We have seen it in this sport over the years. The momentum, the confidence, a shot in the arm. It is exactly what our team needed. We unloaded off the truck here and went right back to the top of the board. That is pretty cool. All four of our Stewart-Haas cars are fast again here at a totally different race track.

“It is crazy how you can get your cars with a good balance on them and really roll them through the corners good and for whatever reason in today’s day in age it doesn’t matter if it is at Texas Motor Speedway running 200 mph or last week at Martinsville. It seems if they are fast at one track they are going to be fast at the next. It is real fun to be in a Ford right now. We had a ton of fun celebrating that win. It was a long time overdue and it felt good to do that with our guys and partners and everyone involved with that win. It was special for me. I enjoyed that.”

After Bowyer’s win at Martinsville, Stewart-Haas Racing now has four wins on the season in the first six weeks and they don’t show any signs of letting up anytime soon. In Friday’s lone Cup Series practice session, three of the four SHR cars led the way, with Kurt Busch fastest and Bowyer clocking in second.

Bowyer noted in his media session after practice that the organization seems as stable as it’s ever been and the performance they are showing off this season is due to the quality of people that team owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas have been able to bring into the team over the past 10 years since SHR was formed.

“It’s a credit to him (Stewart),” Bowyer added. “Everybody had the confidence in a champion going over there. He took a big step going over there and forming his half of Stewart-Haas. It’s a big credit. You can’t leave out the boss, Gene Haas. Everybody knows that he steps up whenever needed. The conversation with Gene is, ‘When are you going to win? How are going to win? What do you need to win more?’ It’s never anything about anything other than that. He’s so competitive. You see it in his business practice. You see it in F1. It’s so cool to see those cars make some noise over there. That’s on a global scale. The guy is doing it over there just like he does it in our world.”