2015 NASCAR Buy or Sell: Clint Bowyer

Buy or Sell Clint Bowyer's 2015 Chase Chances

By Richard Tix

Week 22 (21 races in)

Let's continue on the current trend of Buy or Sell drivers and there Chase chances. This week we move onto Clint Bowyer who at the moment is streaking in the right direction. Previously we had Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon. The first driver now looks like a lock (Busch), the second needs a win (Gordon), and the third is a toss up but heading in the wrong direction (Kahne).

Clint Bowyer maybe one of the biggest toss ups to date in this Buy or Sell column. Ever since "spin gate" MWR and Bowyer just never seemed to get it's momentum back. That was in 2013 and we are now entering an era where MWR will be seeing changes. So, 2015 may be the last time we think of MWR the way it is right now and it might be the last time Bowyer makes a Chase run with this exact team. So, below are the reasons you should Buy in or Sell on his Chase chances.

Current 2015 Chase Standings

Reason's to Buy In

• Right now Clint Bowyer is 40 point to the good over 17th in the standings. He is actually 15th in the points after being the 16th driver last week. So, he is trending in the right direction and giving himself some breathing room to spare. He is also only 10 points behind 14th in the standings. 
• Right now Clint Bowyer is trending up. In the last four races he had 3 top 10's. Since Dover (9 races) he has six top 10's. Bowyer only has 8 top 10's on the season (21 races) so they maybe onto something. JGR Toyota's have been on fire so it might be trickling down to MWR. 
• Watkins Glen is on tap this weekend where Bowyer has made strides in recent years. After that NASCAR heads to MIS where Clint has 9 straight top 10's right now (longest active MIS streak). After that we are onto Bristol where Bowyer normally doesn't finish worse than the top 15. Darlington is nothing special for Bowyer but the last stop before the Chase is Richmond which is one of his best tracks (2 career wins). So, he has a lot of decent tracks coming up on the schedule that should keep him in contention.
• The biggest of those tracks is Richmond. Ironically Richmond is the location of "Spin-Gate." He has two career wins, four top 5's, and eleven top 10's in 19 career starts. So, he could come up big and win the last race of the regular season.

Reason's to Sell

• Five races remain before the Chase (Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Darlington, and Richmond). Out of those five he has only won at one of them (twice), Richmond. If it comes down to Bowyer needing a win those are some pretty bad odds of him winning.
• Speaking of odds of winning, Clint Bowyer is on a 98 race streak without a win. His last Cup win was 2012 at Charlotte in the Fall. 2012 was also the only season he has had a win while with Michael Waltrip Racing (three total in 2012). Can a lot of trust be put into him at this point?
• Kyle Busch will push Bowyer back down to 16th in points as soon as he reaches the top 30 and takes a Chase spot, so he will be on the hot seat week to week. Bowyer currently only has 1 top 5 finish so far through 21 races. Clint may need to run up front a lot to lock a spot in via points so he will need to turn it up a notch to do so.
• The fact that the cut line is realistically at his position right now (because Kyle Busch will make the Chase) is the biggest concern. Last year only two drivers got in on points. Now, I do think more guys will get in on points than 2014, that doesn't mean it will 6 like it currently is right now. He either needs to be very consistent or find a way to win down the stretch to be comfortable for the next five races.

2015 Team Spotlight Preview: Michael Waltrip Racing

MWR 2015 Season Preview

By Richard Tix

2014 Season Review

2014 Season Stats of Full-Time Drivers Returning (including Vickers)

Races: 72

Wins: 0

Top 5: 8

Top 10: 24

Pole: 0

2014 Drivers in the Chase: 0

2015 is a big season for MWR and its drivers. One drivers is still trying to get back to being a championship contender (Bowyer) and the other is trying to prove to himself he can fight his health issues (Vickers). Almost everyone in the sport is pulling for Vickers and good news broke he may only miss the first two races of 2015.

Just a couple short years ago MWR looked like a team in the rise at the Cup level, but since then they have come crashing down. 2015 could be a turning point back in the right direction or the last straw in an organization that might have to start from scratch.

In my opinion one of the two MWR full-time drivers needs to make the Chase to consider MWR as having a comeback season. Some blame for last years downfall can be put on Toyota Racing Development, but MWR has done itself no favor's in the last few years after putting themselves in the spotlight at Richmond. 2015 needs to be the year they put that behind them and let it just be part of history without dragging them down.


Clint Bowyer

• 2014 was the worst season Clint has had since he started full time racing at the Cup level in 2006. His 17.1 average finish was worst only to the rookie season and the same can be said about his 15 top 10's. 2015 will be hand in hand a big year for Clint and MWR if they want to get back to where they were in 2012.

Brian Vickers

• It's had been a long road back for Brian Vickers after numerous heath scares, but in 2014 everything seemed to be going in the right direction. On the track 2014 wasn't his best season but it was a great thing to see him starts all 36 races. Then news broke that he again was having heart troubles and would miss some time in 2015. The latest is that Vickers will only miss two races to start 2015 and I hope that is the case. For Vickers, health should be the main focus of 2015, and any on track success should come next.

NASCAR Team Spotlight: Michael Waltrip Racing

Michael Waltrip Racing 2014 Preview

By Richard Tix

Well, last year I pronounced this team as having a bright future in my article MWR Creating a Contender, then the rest of the season happened. After Richmond, not only did every driver of the team's season change, the whole outlook of MWR changed. I though this team was on the brink of something, and now enetering 2014 they are on uneven ground. One night in Richmond, it truly changed everything for this team. Going into 2014 Clint Bowyer is still around, but he will have to build back up his reputation. Martin Truex Jr lost his sponsor (NAPA) and then lost his ride with MWR. Brian Vickers is coming back and is medically cleared, so lets hope he can stay healthy.

2013 Team Stats *Only Includes Current Drivers (Bowyer/Vickers)
Wins: 1
Top 5: 12
Top 10: 24

Clint Bowyer

• Lets look past everything that happened at Richmond for a moment (itch itch). Bowyer made his second straight apperance into the Chase but managed not to figure out a way to win a race. His numbers went down accross the board from 2012 to 2013. 10 top 5's and 17 top 10's helped him get to the Chase but he only finished 7th.

Brian Vickers

• Vickers ran far less races in 2013 yet he did manage a win, unlike Bowyer. Once again health issues cut his season short. He has been medically cleared by doctors to return to full time racing in 2014 so lets hope he stays healthy enough to show what he can do with MWR. 

Michael Waltrip Racing: Creating a Contender

The Nascar world runs around Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, mix in a little Roush Fenway and Richard Childress Racing, and then you are left with Penske, Stewart-Haas, and Michael Waltrip Racing picking up the scraps. That isn't even mentioning Richard Petty Motorsports, Furniture Row, or any other small team trying to just get a mention.

I bring this up because one team really seems to be making strides and could possibly start to push towards the top in the next few years. That team is the before mentioned Michael Waltrip Racing. MWR has come a long way from their start and it has shown the past few seasons.

Last season MWR finally got a driver into the Sprint Cup Chase for the first time and it happened to be a case of the doubles. That's because after Clint Bowyer clinched MWR's first berth Martin Truex Jr ended up also getting in. It seems like last year was a huge coming out party at MWR. This coming out party was largely due to the season its drivers had.

Last season was Clint Bowyers first season with Michael Waltrip and he had the best season of his career thus far. In 2012 Bowyer finished the season runner up to first time Champion Brad Keselowski. Roger Penske has been a long time owner who has paid his dues and 2012 was his first ever Sprint Cup Championship, proving how hard it is to establish a team in Nascar. In 2012 Bowyer also posted 3 Wins, 10 Top 5's, and 23 Top 10's which were all career best for him. This season Bowyer has gotten off to a hot start and sits 3rd in the standings yet he has not found a win in 16 races.

In 2007 Martin Truex Jr won the first race of his career and this past weekend at Sonoma he finally notched his second. Also in 2007, MWR started to really get the ball rolling. MWR was one of the first 3 car teams to adapt to the new Toyota cars and have stuck with them since. Not only is Truex the latest winner this season but he also is sitting in an alright position to make his second straight Chase appearance. Matter of fact, Truex may not have the points that Bowyer has but he has an important win so far in 2013. Truex is sitting 10th in points through 16 races and is also coming off his best season in his career much like Bowyer.  He may not have posted a win last year but he tied his career high of Top 5's (7) and notched a career best 19 Top 10's on his way to a 12.1 average finish position. He didn't fair too well in the Chase where he finished 11th overall but it was his first taste of the big show.

Truex has long been regarded as a driver with tons of potential but just hadn't quiet tapped into it yet, but last season he showed a glimpse of it. After the win at Sonoma some people now think he could make a run while he is in the peak of his career. 

MWR has Truex and Bowyer who both could be hitting hot stretches in there careers behind the wheels of there Toyota Camry's so Michael has got to be happy. The question is, can MWR take the next step and become a title contender in the near future or even as early as this season?

Last year Roger Penske finally got his long awaited title, and in 2011 driver/partial owner Tony Stewart broke an 11 year streak of Hendrick, Gibbs, or Childress Champions with a Stewart-Haas Championship. From 1993-2010 only Robert Yates fielded a driver (Dale Jarrett) to beat one of the big three. (A look at the History of Sprint Cup Champions and Team Owners)

No one who knows Nascar will argue money wins races in Nascar (Which has lead to many years of research, development, and learning curves), and with that statement that Hendrick and Gibbs are tier one on that list (Childress riding shotgun) but with recent success of two non big three teams could MWR's time be now to break through? When thinking about that, also take this into account, those big three have owner's who are not getting any younger. To take a longer look into that check out this Fox Sports article that takes a look at the new demographic of Nascar and its owners. In my opinion I think that Michael Waltrip Racing is starting to turn a corner and will start to be a force for the next decade. Who else will step up as owners start to age and the cost of getting into Nascar keeps getting steeper and steeper?

• Martin Truex Jr- Sign's with MWR in 2010
• 124 Races. 1 Win. 15 top 5's. 45 top 10's. (With MWR)
• Clint Bowyer- Sign's with MWR in 2012
• 52 Races 3 Win's. 15 top 5's. 32 top 10's. (With MWR)

**I do realize MWR also fields the #55 (Mark Martin) every week but he is just coasting through his time at MWR anyways**

Take a look at this weeks Driver Spotlight that happens to be on Martin Truex Jr
Also take a peak at last weeks Power Rankings and this Weeks Kentucky Preview!