Clint Bowyer is ‘having a blast’ with Stewart-Haas Racing

Clint Bowyer knew joining Stewart-Haas Racing would bring certain expectations and there would be no excuses if he didn’t produce to the level expected.

But Bowyer also knew that if he was going to revitalize his career, then the team co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas presented him with the best opportunity to snap a winless stretch that extended to Oct. 2012 and had made him largely irrelevant in recent seasons.

On Sunday, Bowyer didn’t end his now 154-race winless streak. He did, however, deliver an impressive performance in finishing third at Auto Club Speedway -- his best result since a fifth at Bristol Motor Speedway in Aug. 2015. He earned the result by passing three drivers in the two-lap overtime, finishing just behind winner Kyle Larson and second-place Brad Keselowski.

“I’m having a blast,” Bowyer said. “To have this opportunity and the opportunity to go out and compete and win races, and race for a championship hopefully, that’s what you’re here to do. I realize that these opportunities don’t come around every day.”

When Stewart announced in Sept. 2015 that he would be retiring after the 2016 season, he also named Bowyer his successor. That meant Bowyer would need to find a team for the stopgap year since his then-team, Michael Waltrip Racing, was shutting down.

Bowyer would sign with HScott Motorsports, a small team on the opposite end of the competitive spectrum compared to SHR, which had won a Cup Series championship with Stewart in 2011 and another with Kevin Harvick in 2014.

The temporary union didn’t go well. HScott couldn’t provide Bowyer with the caliber of equipment he was accustomed to, and by the end of the season, driver and team had reached their breaking point. Bowyer would finish in the top 10 just three times in 36 races and ranked a career-worst 27th in the final standings.

But SHR offered Bowyer a new beginning. A chance to recapture the form that carried him to a three-win season and a runner-up championship finish in 2012. And thus far, through five races, he’s acclimated well. He outran teammates Harvick (13th), Kurt Busch (24th), and Danica Patrick (26th) at ACS, and on the year only Harvick (eighth) has amassed more points than Bowyer, who’s ninth overall.

“Everybody knows the situation,” Bowyer said. “This is something I signed up for a year-and-a-half ago. I’ve been chomping at the bit to be with an organization like this … That’s what you strive to be a part of.”