NASCAR Cup Series: Clint Bowyer must win at Phoenix to advance

Clint Bowyer must win the Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway, the final race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8 to advance to the Championship 4.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer entered the AAA Texas 500, the second of three races on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8 schedule, at Texas Motor Speedway in seventh place out of the eight playoff drivers in the playoff picture.

Before the 337-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas, the driver of the #14 Ford sat 42 points below the Championship 4 cut line.

Bowyer finished the AAA Texas 500 in 26th place. He started in second, but he was unable to recover from contact with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin that took place on the first lap of the race. As a result, he fell to eighth place in the playoff picture, as he dropped below teammate Aric Almirola.

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Bowyer now trails the Championship 4 cut line by 72 points, meaning that the only way by which he can possibly clinch a berth in the Championship 4 is winning the final race of the round of 8, the Can-Am 500, at ISM Raceway.

Two drivers, Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, have already clinched berths in the Championship 4. They did so by winning the opening two races of the round of 8, the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway and the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, respectively. As a result, two spots remain open in the Championship 4 heading into the round of 8 finale.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. are the two drivers who currently occupy the the two open spots in the Championship 4. Busch leads Truex Jr. by three points, meaning that Truex Jr. is the driver who is currently on the bubble right above the Championship 4 cut line.

Truex Jr. is the driver who Bowyer trails by 72 points, and there is no way by which Bowyer’s point total can pass that of Truex Jr. in the Can-Am 500.

A maximum of 60 points are on the table for each driver in each race since stage one winners receive 10 points while stage two winners receive 10 points and race winners receive 40 points. Even winning the race would not be enough to move Bowyer’s point total above that of Truex Jr., although winning it would automatically clinch him a berth in the Championship 4, meaning that his point total would no longer matter for him.

Without winning the race, Bowyer can only score a maximum of 55 points. He could score 10 points for winning stage one, 10 points for winning stage two and 35 points for finishing the race in second place.

Will Clint Bowyer lock up a berth in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 by winning the third and final race of the round of 8 at ISM Raceway? This race, the Can-Am 500, is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 11, so be sure not to miss it.