LEBANON, Tenn. – It was a reunion nine years in the making.
Clint Bowyer dusted off his helmet Friday at Nashville Superspeedway and made his first NASCAR start in four years, reuniting with former crew chief Brian Pattie. The duo worked together from 2012 to 2015 in the Cup Series, winning three races their first year together as Bowyer finished second in points.
Of course, an iconic run-in with Jeff Gordon prevented a shot at the championship.
But years later, who could’ve imagined the pairing would have another opportunity together – nonetheless at the site of Bowyer’s first NASCAR win in 2005.
The 45-year-old prepared for Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200 like any other race. He flew to the Spire Motorsports shop in North Carolina, got a seat fitting, went through pre-race meetings with the team and got simulator time.
To start, the preparation paid off. He qualified 11th and wheeled his No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado into the top 10 despite battling a loose condition. Though he complained on the radio, he had some of the best times on track.
“Started off fine, passing trucks and looked like decent,” Pattie said. “He was doing good — catching on, lap times looked good. For a segment, we were running top three or four lap times.”
But after Stage One, Bowyer brought his machine down pit road for service, where he had a giant miscue that ultimately ruined his night. After the team completed the stop, the Emporia, Kan. native stalled the truck leaving his stall, giving up multiple spots and falling back outside the top 10.
Two restarts later, he got caught in trouble.
As the leaders reached the restart zone, the entire field stacked up – and Bowyer plowed into teammate Chase Purdy ahead. He suffered significant front-end damage.
“I don’t know what the hell happened,” a frustrated Bowyer said. “I know the 19 (Christian Eckes) took off, hit the brakes, took off, hit the brakes. But I don’t know. You get back there and the hornet’s nest, we watch it every week. Those guys — they do it because there’s no throttle response and it’s really hard to pass.
“Honestly, I put us in that situation. I killed it on pit road. I mean, that’s fundamental stuff that I knew was gonna rear its head.”
The team cleared the damaged vehicle policy on the ensuing restart and ran 24th for the rest of the stage until Bowyer could return to pit road. With more tape on the front end, Bowyer found a little more pace, getting as high as 16th before ultimately coming home 17th.
But that finish wasn’t satisfying enough for the 10-time Cup winner.
Sure, he enjoyed hopping back in the driver’s seat. But ultimately, he still wanted to perform well. The competitive drive is still there, although he’s already four years into his FOX broadcasting career.
“It’s fun to compete, fun to get behind the wheel, but hell no. I’ve told people forever: racing’s not fun — winning’s fun,” he said.
Making the return to Nashville, Bowyer had said it was possible Friday would be his final NASCAR race. But moments after exiting his truck, he had already changed his mind.
“I can’t quit like that,” Bowyer said when asked if he wanted to return. “There’s no way in hell. I’ll find something.”
Spire might be able to fulfill that hope again next year.
“I got a couple of races that I’ll circle for him next year if he’d like to come back,” Pattie said. “It felt normal. It felt like we were back in 2012 through ‘15 having fun, a good time.
“Now he’s got the itch, so he’ll be back.”