NASCAR: Bowyer starts new chapter at SHR

Clint Bowyer got his first taste of being a Stewart-Haas Racing driver Wednesday afternoon.

Standing next to the No. 14 at the Ford Performance Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina, Bowyer found himself facing a crowd of media members. It was almost like Bowyer was getting reacquainted with the group as well as being the center of attention, something he was not in 2016 while driving for HScott Motorsports.

"When you run 30th nobody wants to talk to you," Bowyer joked to the group. "Now you want to talk to me, and I've got a lot of emotion built up to pick on you."

It was Bowyer in familiar form for those who know him best. It had been a while since Bowyer was able to crack jokes or have a big smile on his face. Moving to Stewart-Haas Racing and inheriting Tony Stewart's car will do that to a driver, and it officially puts the worst season of Bowyer's career behind him.

In 36 races for HScott, Bowyer earned just three top-10 finishes on his way to a winless, Chase-less season. He led just three laps all season – the fewest of his career. A 27th-place finish in points was also the worst Bowyer had finished in his 11 full seasons.

"Hey, you learn from everything, and I learned a lot [at HScott], and I met some good people over there," Bowyer said. "There are a lot of guys that worked their tails off to get our cars to the racetrack. The success wasn't there, but it doesn't change the fact that fewer guys did more work. I appreciated all those guys' hard work, and at the end of the day, it put me on the racetrack and gave me an opportunity to do what I love to do. Was it the best thing in the world? Probably not. Probably wasn't healthy, as a matter of fact.

"Nonetheless, this deal (with Stewart-Haas) was worth it. This opportunity was worth whatever you had to go through. Whether it was sitting at home or sitting in something else, didn't matter. I signed on for this thing, and if I had to go be a spotter for a year, I was going to do it because I wanted to be in this car because I knew it was my soonest opportunity to be in the best possible situation to go out and win races."

Stewart understood Bowyer's position. How he wanted the season to go by faster; that he wouldn't be opposed to Stewart handing the seat over early.

"If he could have clicked his heels three times and made it 2017, he would have done it in a heartbeat," Stewart said. "We were all just reminding him: Be patient, you got a lot to look forward to. We were hoping his season would turn around at some point, too, but it didn't work out that way. But it wasn't for a lack of effort on their side.

"As odd as this sounds, I've seen him a lot calmer than I have saw him all last year. I don't know if he's ever calm, but you could tell that he's excited about what's coming up. He's genuinely excited about getting in the 14 car and that makes us happy, too."

It's hard not to feel like you're on Cloud 9, Bowyer admitted. But without offseason testing, Bowyer has had to find other ways to get into a groove with his new team, through lunches or conversations at the shop.
Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz took it a step further by giving his new driver a cheat sheet.

Bowyer asked Bugarewicz if there was a team roster. Having seen many of the team members in the garage through the years, Bowyer wanted to study names with faces.

"He's such a dedicated person and so prepared, he literally went and took pictures of all the guys and emailed me names of them," Bowyer laughed. "I'm like, man, you didn't have to do that."

Fun aside, the season Bowyer has waited for is here. Now back in championship-caliber equipment, though, Bowyer won't shy away from the question of whether he's worried he's still a good enough driver.

"Hey, that's a real, legitimate question," he said. "You just don't know. Hell, you haven't been in (a good car) for a while. I think the last time I was in a good car I was good, and I think that I'm a smarter driver than I was three years ago. I think I'm plenty capable of winning races if we can get a good team underneath of me and these good cars.

"I love what I see at Stewart-Haas. I really do believe if I'm going to win a race this is exactly where I'm going to win a race, in this kind of situation."