Bowyer OK with second after 'one of them days'

Clint Bowyer knew going into Sonoma Raceway he needed a win to solidify his position for the playoffs. Leaving the Toyota Save / Mart 350, Bowyer not only still needs the win but saw another winless driver take the checkered flag.

At least it was Bowyer's teammate Kevin Harvick who finished in front of him.

"Let's face it, you're not going to keep that team that's won a championship, won all these races in the last five years, you're not going to keep them out of Victory Lane anyway," Bowyer said. "So, it's not like I was looking at that team as one I was going to have to point my way into beating for the [playoffs].

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"Let's face it, yeah, we've got to win. We need a win in a big way, and today would have been a great win, but after everything that happened, I mean, to get second place is, I guess, really good, as a matter of fact."

The No. 14 Ford looked like it had been through a demolition derby following 110 laps at the 12-turn road course. Bowyer found trouble repeatedly throughout the event, resulting in a tight condition through most of the day. The good news was the final stage saw a long green flag run to the finish and Bowyer said he was able to nurse what was left of his car.

Through varying pit strategies, Bowyer was able to pick his way through the field to second. However, Harvick had driven away to nearly a nine-second lead.

"Short runs have never been my strong suit here, the long runs are, and thank God we got a long run there," Bowyer said. "I was out of tires. By the time I got done tearing the hell out of my car, I was out of tires."

Bowyer pointed to short stages with stage 1 and 2 only being 25 laps as being a reason for that. Add in different strategies through the field as drivers on new tires tried to fight through drivers on older tires and contact was aplenty Sunday.

"And then all of a sudden, you're on the bad side of tires trying to hold guys off, and you're blocking," Bowyer said. "They're stacked up behind them, and it's just a recipe for disaster. The 47 [AJ Allmendinger] car down there, I just didn't see him and knocked the whole front end off our car.

"Somebody else I had a really good run on, and I thought they were going to give it to me, and they didn't. Brad [Keselowski] spun me out. So yeah. One of them days."