Bowyer heads to Kansas Speedway without his typical crowd

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — This is typically one of the busiest weeks of the year for Clint Bowyer, who grew up in the small southeast Kansas town of Emporia and began his racing career on the dirt surface of Lakeside Speedway just outside Kansas City.

The NASCAR star is fielding ticket requests for the Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. He's slipping back to his home town to check on his auto dealerships. He's entertaining sponsors, meeting with friends — among them Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce — and trying to squeeze in a Royals game over at Kauffman Stadium.

But there is nothing typical about anything in the age of the coronavirus.

Instead, Bowyer will show up for Thursday night's race with no family crowding into his hauler, no fans in the stands. He will wear a mask along with everyone else in the garage area, and head to the track without practice or qualifying.

“Obviously it's going to be drastically different not having fans,” Bowyer said. "That is what put this sport on the map. That is what has kept it on the map all these years and without that, it is just a void that can't be replaced.

“Are we putting a product on the track? Yes. Are there people at home watching? Yes, the ratings show that and these are the things keeping us relevant,” he continued. “I think the rest of the world is fixing to see first-hand just like we experience in the last few months and the difference and challenges and impact of not having that fan presence there. It isn't just the presence, it is the atmosphere of your event. Without that, it isn't quite the event it could be or should be or would be.”

There have been fans at select NASCAR races since the pandemic began, including the All-Star race at Bristol and last weekend's race at Texas. Tickets are also being sold for New Hampshire and Daytona. But whether fans are in seats is largely left up to local jurisdictions, and with case numbers soaring in Kansas and Missouri, the decision was made earlier this month to leave the nearly 50,000 seats empty for the prime-time, mid-week race.

None of that changes the pressure Bowyer faces at his home track.

He signed a one-year extension with Stewart-Haas Racing for this season and is searching for his first win, which would ensure he races in the postseason for the third straight year and help his job prospects for next season. He hasn't won since Michigan in 2018 and no doubt sees SHR driver Chase Briscoe cleaning up in the Xfinity Series.

In other words, Bowyer's first win in 24 starts at Kansas Speedway could come at no better time.

“I've got to do a better job inside the race car. We got to do a better job of getting this 14 car back up front where it belongs,” he said. “Stewart-Haas is a wonderful organization. I want to be there. I want to retire there, and I love the opportunity and the people behind it. I really believe all the pieces of the puzzle are there.”

UNLOAD AND GO

NASCAR announced this week that it will continue to conduct races without practice or qualifying for the rest of the season in its three national series.

“The current format has worked well in addressing several challenges during our return to racing. Most importantly, we have seen competitive racing week to week," said Scott Miller, the senior vice president for competition. “NASCAR will adjust the starting lineup draw procedure for the playoff races and will announce the new process at a later date.”

The decision wasn't universally welcomed, though, especially when IndyCar and other series have practiced and qualified.

“Not qualifying has been a bummer,” Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones said, “because I know going to Kansas we could start better than wherever we're going to draw, which is anywhere from 13 on back to 24 or somewhere in there.”

BANNER WEEKEND

Richard Childress Racing is coming off its first 1-2 finish since 2011 last weekend at Texas, where Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick held off Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.

“It means a tremendous amount because we’ve struggled, and everyone knows that,” team owner Richard Childress said. “To see both those guys racing for the win. I was hoping they didn’t wreck each other. ”

STAR FROM AFAR

Defensive tackle Chris Jones of the Super Bowl champion Chiefs will serve as the grand marshal on Thursday night, though he will have to say “start your engines" from afar because of the pandemic. Jones recently signed a four-year contract that could be worth up to $85 million.

“The Chiefs provided our community a great deal of pride and joy last February, and it is only appropriate to have someone who played such a critical role in their success kick off our race weekend,” track president Pat Warren said. “We look forward to one of the NFL’s top defensive players having a role at Kansas Speedway.”

WDUN will have live MRN Radio coverage of Thursday night's NASCAR Cup Series Super Start Batteries 400 from Kansas Speedway beginning at 6:30 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.

NASCAR Cup Series
Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS
Super Start Batteries 400 - July 23, 2020

Thursday Night's Starting Lineup

1.    4    Kevin Harvick    Busch Light Apple Ford    0.000    0.000
2.    22    Joey Logano    Shell Pennzoil Ford    0.000    0.000
3.    10    Aric Almirola    Smithfield Hometown Original Ford    0.000    0.000
4.    12    Ryan Blaney    DEX Imaging Ford    0.000    0.000
5.    19    Martin Truex, Jr.    Auto Owner's Insurance Toyota    0.000    0.000
6.    88    Alex Bowman    ChevyGoods.com/NOCO Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
7.    2    Brad Keselowski    Wabash Ford    0.000    0.000
8.    18    Kyle Busch    M&M's Fudge Brownie Toyota    0.000    0.000
9.    1    Kurt Busch    Monster Energy Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
10.    11    Denny Hamlin    FedEx Office Toyota    0.000    0.000
11.    9    Chase Elliott    NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
12.    21    Matt DiBenedetto    Menards/Dutch Boy Ford    0.000    0.000
13.    17    Chris Buescher    Fifth Third Bank Ford    0.000    0.000
14.    42    Matt Kenseth    McDelivery Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
15.    24    William Byron    Axalta Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
16.    3    Austin Dillon    American Ethanol Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
17.    43    Bubba Wallace    Victory Junction Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
18.    6    Ryan Newman    Wyndham Rewards Ford    0.000    0.000
19.    14    Clint Bowyer    One Cure Ford    0.000    0.000
20.    48    Jimmie Johnson    Ally Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
21.    20    Erik Jones    Reser's Fine Foods Toyota    0.000    0.000
22.    95    Christopher Bell #    Rheem Toyota    0.000    0.000
23.    8    Tyler Reddick #    I Am Second Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
24.    41    Cole Custer #    HaasTooling.com Ford    0.000    0.000
25.    47    Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.    Kroger Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
26.    77    Garrett Smithley(i)    Formula One Imports Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
27.    34    Michael McDowell    Dockside Logistics Ford    0.000    0.000
28.    27    J.J. Yeley(i)     Ford    0.000    0.000
29.    15    Brennan Poole #    Remember Everyone Deployed Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
30.    38    John Hunter Nemechek #    Digital Ally Ford    0.000    0.000
31.    32    Corey LaJoie    Built Bar Ford    0.000    0.000
32.    00    Quin Houff #    Creek Enterprises Inc. Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
33.    53    Josh Bilicki(i)     Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
34.    51    Joey Gase(i)    Page Construction Ford    0.000    0.000
35.    37    Ryan Preece    Bush's Beans Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
36.    13    Ty Dillon    GEICO Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
37.    96    Daniel Suarez    Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota    0.000    0.000
38.    66    Timmy Hill(i)    RoofClaim.com Toyota    0.000    0.000
39.    7    Reed Sorenson     Chevrolet    0.000    0.000
40.    78    B.J. McLeod(i)    Axele.com Chevrolet    0.000    0.000