As you've already seen above, Clint Bowyer announced Thursday that he will step out of the No. 14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing in order to work for FOX Sports full-time in 2021.  While I will miss Bowyer as a driver, Bowyer in the booth full-time is an interesting scenario.

I thought something like this could happen given that Bowyer did a number of Xfinity races this year in the makeshift remote booth for FOX Sports.  Also, just last night on NASCAR RaceHub, Matt Yocum went out to Bowyer's farm in Mocksville, N.C. to interview him.  Bowyer rolls up with this modified and slammed Peterbilt.  I thought two things to myself.  One was simply, "That is so Clint Bowyer."  The man must be in heaven driving that thing.  He may be 40, but he's like a little kid with it.  Cash (Clint's son) loves it since the passenger seat can raise up so that he can see out of it.

Secondly, that there was no way that he was going to be back in the No. 14 next year.  I have no idea how contract negotiations (if they even had any) went between Bowyer and anyone (including Stewart-Haas Racing).  I have no doubt that Bowyer would have had to take a significant pay cut in order to drive next year in Cup.  He may not have wanted to do so.  He's got a bunch of stuff that he has to pay for, the farm being just one part of it.  His businesses in Kansas have likely taken a hit as well.  There's only so many people right now that can buy a Toyota in Emporia, Kan.

Basically, I believe that Bowyer will be paid more to be an on-air analyst for FOX Sports than he could have gotten to continue to race.  I cannot prove this, but I think that it is so.

How will Bowyer mesh with Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon?  This will be an interesting combination.  Bowyer will be the fun-loving guy in the booth.  Honestly, he could be a little like a combination of Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond for FOX.  Yes, he's not a former crew chief, but I think he'll bring that kind of feel to the booth.  Plus, the last year has shown that it would be beneficial for a third person to be there, if for no other reason than to have another person to bounce things off of.

At bare minimum, what you're going to get is a looser booth since Bowyer is a fun-loving kind of guy.  You're also getting someone who is more familiar with how the current Cup cars drive as compared to Gordon.  Yes, Gordon's a recent arrival in the broadcast booth, but he's already been out of the car for more than four years.  He hasn't raced with the current rule packages.  Bowyer will definitely be able to help in that regard.

It doesn't particularly matter what happens, this booth should be worth giving a look next season.  I know I will.  I don't plan to give up my critique columns in 2021.  We'll get a better idea of what this group will look like together in February.  Problem is, given the schedule and the fact that Bowyer is still driving right now, there likely won't be much of an opportunity for dry runs like what Dale Earnhardt Jr. did when he signed with NBC Sports prior to the 2018 season.  He'll be going into Daytona with limited prep with live races unless FOX Sports sequesters a suite in Daytona and has the trio do a practice call of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Now that Bowyer has more experience in the booth, I know that he won't be a destabilizing force on television.  He can keep himself on task and doesn't come off as a selfish individual.  It should be fun.  The chances for silliness will be increased over 2020 on FOX, that's for sure.  We'll just have to wait and see just how silly it gets while keeping it professional.

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.  Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Charlotte for their third visit to Charlotte Motor Speedway's infield road course, known as the ROVAL.  Coverage of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 starts with NASCAR America Sunday at 1 p.m. on NBCSN.  Countdown to Green follows at 1:30.  Race coverage will begin on NBC at 2 p.m. with the green flag falling around 2:15.  Radio coverage will be provided by local PRN radio affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
 

Records and facts

If nothing else, races on the ROVAL will probably be quite rough.  Chase Elliott found this out the hard way when he slid into the wall at the TUMS Heartburn Turn right after a restart on lap 65.

Kevin Harvick was the dominant for much of the race, but Elliott was able to recover from his incident to get back into contention.  A crash exiting the infield involving Ryan Preece, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher bunched everyone up for a six-lap sprint to the finish.  Elliott was able to get a run on Harvick on the outside of turns 13 and 14 (turns 3 and 4 of the quad-oval) and make the pass entering the chicane.  From there, Elliott pulled away to take his third career road course victory.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman finished second, while Harvick was third.  Clint Bowyer finished fourth, while Brad Keselowski was fifth.

There have only been two races on the ROVAL to this point.  They have been won by Elliott and Ryan Blaney.

Track Facts

Track / Race Length: 2.28-mile infield road course ("ROVAL"), 109 laps (248.52 miles, 399.954 kilometers)
Banking: 0-24 degrees

Turns: 17

Grandstand Seating: 89,000

Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 55 mph
Opened: 1960

Website: http://www.charlottemotorspeedway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlottemotorspeedway

Twitter: http://twitter.com/CLTMotorSpdwy

Say What!

"I don’t know why the road courses have been good to us thus far. I came from short-track racing, I did a little bit of road course racing in go karts, but I don’t know how much that translates. Most of my years coming along were short tracks around the country, asphalt racing – very different from road-course racing. I do think a lot of the credit should go to Jeff (Gordon). Jeff was a fantastic road racer, as we all know. I really think he and Alan (Gustafson) had a very good understanding of what was important at road races and what they really wanted in the cars and what mattered. As a young driver coming into a situation like that, having a good foundation has really helped me learn and learn faster because that foundation was already close. I think when you step into a situation that is good like that, as a guy that is learning, it does nothing but help you and make you better." - Chase Elliott

"I think the hardest part is just trying to understand the different dynamics between the slow sections in the infield portion of the track versus the high-speed and high-banked portion of the oval track. You are slipping on every corner, there’s not a corner where you are necessarily feeling really good about it. It’s going to be a technical challenge all the way around yet again this year." - Kyle Busch

"I’d buy a good ticket or get in front of a television and get that popcorn and whatever else out, because I expect those final laps Sunday are going to be some of the most memorable of the season. It’s probably going to be really calm for a while, but there will be a few late cautions, and then it will be chaos. We hardly ever see anything like we are about to see. Like the last two years on the ROVAL, nobody has any idea what to expect." - Clint Bowyer

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.  Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.