The Forgotten NASCAR Controversy That Shattered Clint Bowyer’s 2010 Title Run

Clint Bowyer retired without a Cup Series title to his name, but that could have been different if he had not suffered a huge setback in the 2010 season. Bowyer finished the season 467 points behind champion Jimmie Johnson, but he was hit with a massive penalty after the first postseason race.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to revisit the incident that had a major impact on Bowyer’s 2010 campaign.

How Did a Controversial Call Hinder Clint Bowyer’s 2010 NASCAR Championship?
Bowyer had the perfect start to the playoffs as he won the first race of the Chase in 2010 at New Hampshire. But the festivities in the Bowyer camp were short-lived after NASCAR gave them a call with a serious accusation.

NASCAR docked Bowyer 150 points after a post-race inspection found that the car he drove to Victory Lane at New Hampshire did not meet specifications. Crew chief Shane Wilson received a six-week suspension and a $150,000 fine, while team owner Richard Childress lost 150 owner points. But, NASCAR chose to let Bowyer keep his win.

A forgotten controversy: Clint Bowyer won the first race of the 2010 Chase on fuel mileage, only for NASCAR to penalize him 150 points after finding his car’s body wasn’t sitting properly on the frame.

RCR claimed that a tow truck push (Bowyer ran out of gas after burnouts) is… pic.twitter.com/UYhqICdx7k

— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) September 18, 2025

RCR appealed the decision, but Bowyer did not get his 150 points back. However, two of NASCAR’s penalties against the team were reduced. Wilson’s $150,000 fine was lowered to $100,000, while the six-race suspensions for him and car chief Chad Haney were shortened to four.

Earlier, Bowyer’s team and Richard Childress Racing received a warning after their Richmond car, which finished P6 to clinch a Chase berth, narrowly cleared inspection. The New Hampshire car cleared the post-race inspection at the track, but a deeper look at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord uncovered rear-end tolerance issues.

“They were in the box (after the Richmond race) but getting close to some of the tolerances, and we asked them to come in to see if they aren’t getting off on one of their build sheets,” then-NASCAR Vice President of Competition, Robin Pemberton, had said.

Childress claimed the car may have gone out of spec while being pushed into Victory Lane or on the cool-down lap.

“(NASCAR) told us they were going to take our New Hampshire car to the NASCAR technical center after that race. It doesn’t make any sense at all that we would send a car to New Hampshire that wasn’t within NASCAR’s tolerances,” Childress said in a statement.

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“I am confident we fixed the area of concern and the New Hampshire car left the race shop well within the tolerances required by NASCAR,” he continued.

Bowyer did win at Talladega after the incident and finished P2 at Auto Club Speedway in California. But it wasn’t enough to get him to the title. He posted a P25 at Dover and a P15 at Kansas right after New Hampshire.

Those results proved costly for Bowyer as he had to stay content with a 10th-place finish after such a promising start to the playoffs. If the penalty hadn’t happened, he might have carried the momentum to walk away with the title.