Martinsville was "a breath of fresh air" for Clint Bowyer

That should come as little surprise.

Some of Bowyer’s best performances this season have come on the series’ short tracks, including his third-place finish in Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville.

Sunday’s effort was his first top-five since he was fifth on the road course at Watkins Glen, N.Y., in August.

“That was a really good run for us. We got down early when we had an air gun break (on a pit stop), but nobody gave up, and we came back pretty strong,” Bowyer said.

“In the last few weeks we’ve had good cars and just got caught in somebody else’s problems. We avoided all that and showed everyone how good of a race team we are.”

The lack of consistency from Bowyer and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team is what kept them out of the 2017 playoffs.

But several of the team’s best efforts this season have come on short tracks. He was seventh in the spring race at Martinsville and second at the spring race at Bristol, Tenn. – one of his three runner-up finishes this season.

Sunday’s race was the first in which the track utilized its new LED lighting system. Although it wasn’t technically a night race, the late afternoon start (3 p.m. ET) ensured the race would not be completed before darkness set in.

Indeed the race ended up going into overtime with several wrecks in the final 50 laps, which left plenty of time for drivers to get a taste of racing Martinsville at night.

“Martinsville is short track racing; you know what I mean? This is what put this sport on the map is racing like that, and it’s been a while since we’ve seen that,” Bowyer said.

“It’s a breath of fresh air to get back to a short track where it can breed some of that and put on a show for the fans. I know I was entertained.”

Entertained and appreciative of another good finish.