Bowyer

So Clint Bowyer battled through a nasty summer bug last weakened at Pocono, just another obstacle for this 33 team battling to find its place in NASCAR's chase.  Still Bowyer managed to run pretty decently, before pit strategy shuffled him back to an 18th place finish. "I woke up very sick this morning and struggled to stay hydrated in the car," said Bowyer. "We were better than the 18 th -place finish, but it's so hard to pass on any track lately and track position means everything.

For the first time since joining a new team in the off season, Kansas native Clint Boywer found his way to victory lane. It has only been a little less than a year since Bowyer's last victory. Yet, there is no doubt moving to Michael Waltrip Racing was a risk for the Emporia native, and one he probably would rather not have taken. "Basically kind of lost my ride at RCR, walked into a new program with a lot of unknowns," said Bowyer after his win at Sonoma on Sunday. "I still had confidence in myself.

Last week we documented just how good Clint Bowyer is on the short tracks, and his second place finish at Richmond just drives home the point. And yet, possibly his best track on the circuit is at the other end of the spectrum. This week we head to the 2.66 mile Talladega Superspeedway. The anti "short track" and Bowyer is nails on the series biggest track. He had two Alabama wins, four top fives and seven top tens in 15 races. "I'm looking forward to it," said Bowyer. "We've been on a roll here recently with our race team and we're hoping to get through Talladega here with a good finish - if not a win - and keep digging.” But Bowyer warns much like Forest Gump's chocolate, you never know what you are going to get at 'dega.

Matt Kenseth took the pole Sunday at one of his favorite places after setting a track qualifying record of 191.864 mph at Kansas Speedway. Kenseth won the fall race at Kansas last season, and hasn't finished outside the top 10 since having engine trouble in the 2009 race. He has finished in the top five at Kansas five times. Carl Edwards will start on the front row for the first time at Kansas after qualifying second with a lap of 191.748. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified third.