RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Clint Bowyer is having a terrible year. Tony Stewart, too.
The veteran drivers have struggled through most of the first eight races this year before breakthrough performances last weekend at Bristol. Neither driver believes they’ve turned a corner, but both believe they can be competitive Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.
Why? Because the current NASCAR rules package both are struggling with doesn’t necessarily dictate their fate at Richmond, another short track where driver ability can still trump aerodynamics, horsepower and ill-handling race cars.
Bowyer was on pace for his second top-10 finish last week before he was caught in a late accident; Stewart was sixth, his first top-10 finish this season.
“It just seems like this package that we keep migrating to with our sport, it just kind of keeps painting you in a corner of you are only as good as your equipment,” Bowyer said Friday at Richmond. “It’s too bad because the only differential right now is when you get to some short tracks, it’s still kind of old-school, get up on the wheel and make some stuff happen.”