Clint Bowyer responds with a crystal clear take on a NASCAR fan’s ‘difficult to address’ backlash about Christopher Bell

Ex-NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer responded to a fan’s comments on the ending of Sunday’s (Feb 23) Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. According to the fan on X, that caution on the last lap wasn’t necessary.

The fan also felt that Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell shouldn’t have won this year’s Ambetter Health 400 at the 1.5-mile quad-oval. Perhaps Kyle Larson would have won had NASCAR not brought out the yellow at that decisive moment.

The race may even have ended three-wide with Larson, Bell, and Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar making the top three spots. Bowyer, now an analyst at FOX alongside former series champion Kevin Harvick, knows that addressing close finishes like these can be quite tricky.

Reflecting on the same, the 2008 Nationwide Series champion wrote,

“Buddy, this is a difficult thing to address. Letting them race back seems so simple. It works until it doesn’t…..And then it will be too late. What happens if they leave it green and one of them cars comes back up in front of a car running wide open and someone gets hurt bad?”

As it stands, NASCAR always tries its best to let the field run under green flag conditions. But safety standards are something that the sport would never compromise with.

That is particularly true after the reconfiguration that Atlanta Motor Speedway went through back in 2021. It increased the banking significantly and narrowed down the track from 55 to 40 feet in the turns, paving the way for pack racing which is commonly seen at superspeedways like Daytona.

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Clint Bowyer reacts to NASCAR getting rid of traditional “rookie stripe” at Bowman Gray

As NASCAR geared up for the 2025 season, a surprising change came up. NASCAR decided that it would remove the yellow stripe that used to feature on the cars of rookie drivers in the top levels of NASCAR.

During the unofficial season-opening race at Bowman Gray Stadium, veteran commentator Mike Joy noticed that the characteristic yellow stripe was missing from Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 88. He said,

“Look at what's missing on the back of that car. There is no yellow bumper anymore for rookie drivers in the top levels of NASCAR.”

“I don't like it,” Clint Bowyer added. “Without explanation or attribution, they have made that change. The yellow bumper is gone. We pulled Kevin's (Harvick) yellow tape off of his microphone here before we got started. I don't know. It's a tradition.”

Joy and Bowyer weren’t the only ones who didn’t quite approve of the change. Even Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed it while commenting on one of journalist Jeff Gluck’s posts.

“I will miss them.”

But the racing must go on. Next up is the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix scheduled for March 2 at Circuit of The Americas. Fans can watch the event on FOX or listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from 3:30 pm ET onwards.