Clint Bowyer proudly stepped in to drive the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota in Friday night’s Subway Jalapeno 250 after a back injury forced scheduled driver Denny Hamlin to sit the race out.
Bowyer qualified 12th for his first time behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Bowyer led the pack on lap four, but got shuffled further back before the first caution of the night was out on lap eight. The No. 20 Dollar General Camry came to pit road for fuel only and restarted 13th with 89 laps to go.
With no one to work with, Bowyer was hung out to dry on the restart and fell back to 34th. His teammate Brian Scott, who was several laps down, came to the rescue on lap 29. Their two-car tandem moved Bowyer up to 26th before the yellow was back out on lap 40.
Returning to pit road, crew chief Matt Lucas called for four tires, fuel and adjustments to free up the Dollar General Toyota. Bowyer was 17th when the field went back to green on lap 45.
By lap 54, Bowyer was back drafting with the top-10 contenders. On lap 65, Bowyer did his best to steer his way through the “big one” but was left with significant damage to his Dollar General car.
Bowyer brought his Toyota into the garage where he diligently assisted his team in getting the 20 car patched up in order to re-enter the field. The No. 20 Dollar General Camry was back on the track on lap 80.
Bowyer soldiered on to the end, finishing 26th.
Clint Bowyer on his race: “Disappointing night, but what a great opportunity to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing and Dollar General. Everyone was great to work with this weekend. I hate it that we weren’t able to get a better finish out of this, but that’s Daytona. We were caught in the big one and there’s nothing we could do to avoid that. I did my best to steer clear. I’m just very thankful for the opportunity and hope we can try this again on down the road.”
