A block on the final lap of the NASCAR race resulted in a battle of bumper cars after the race was over
With just 4 laps to go at Kansas Speedway, Matt DiBenedetto blew an engine. That brought out the caution and setup a NASCAR overtime finish.
Now, ahead of this we might have seen the best 1.5-mile race ever. Specifically the restarts were dramatic.
NASCAR’s new rules package was designed specifically to fix that poor shows prior at the 1.5-mile tracks. On Saturday night, the cars had significantly less horsepower and significantly more downforce.
The combination of that created massive runs as drivers drafted down the straights.
Back to the end of the race… The hometown driver of Clint Bowyer came down pit road and got four new tires. He restarted in 8th with a two lap shootout up next.
The green dropped and Keselowski drove away as they fought for 2nd behind him. Meanwhile, Clint Bowyer was coming to the front with four new tires. He picked off four cars in the first corner and was up to 4th.
Bowyer had a run off turn four on Alex Bowman and Erik Jones as they came to get the white flag. The #14 looked to the inside, the #20 came down to block. Bowyer then jumped to the high side through the tri-oval and Erik Jones drove through his mirror and went all the way to the outside wall to block again.
Bowyer made light contact to the rear bumper of Jones as he lifted off the throttle. But, had he not lifted it would have been a crash.
Bowyer lost momentum and slipped backward to 7th. He ended up fifth at the finish.
After the race…
Brad Keselowski took the race win. But, Clint Bowyer sped through the field after they took the checkered flag.
He was hunting down the #20 car. First he tagged him in the rear bumper and dented up his own hood in the process. Then, he pulled alongside and side swiped him after the race as the cars were returning to the pit lane.
When the cars made it to the pit lane, Bowyer was hot. He climbed from his car in a hurry. He then walked over to the #20 driver to have a discussion on the pit lane. Erik Jones remained in his car as the two talked it out.
Clint Bowyer on the incident with Erik Jones
Clint Bowyer discussed the incident with FOX Sports after the race, “It’s just, what are you going to do? Turn him right in-front of the field and hurt him?”
“He puts ya in a bad situation. I lifted for him and it cost me three spots. We should have finished 2nd. Everybody knows that.”
“That was dumb on his part. I guess that what he wants, just to go down and wreck him in-front of the field.”
“When you got a run like that, you don’t just move up. I should have just wrecked him, I guess.”
“That pisses me off. I don’t even know who won. But, it wasn’t us,” Bowyer laughes as he struggled to form further thoughts on his race.
Erik Jones on the block to Clint Bowyer
“I think it was just racing,” Erik Jones said with a smile.
“We were racing hard. This package kinda leads into a lot of blocking and a lot of protecting your position.”
“We’re taking the white flag, I’m not going to give up a lane and give up 2, 3 or 4 spots if he would have got the inside,” Jones concluded.
Clint Bowyer vs Erik Jones
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Clint Bowyer | Erik Jones | NASCAR | Kansas Speedway
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