Bowyer finished fourth Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, an impressive showing for his first time with Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33 team and crew chief Shane Wilson.

“The naysayers have already got us out of the Chase [For The Sprint Cup] and everything else,” Bowyer said. “I think this just proves first race out of the box that we're capable of getting the job done still. Just real proud of the effort."

Wilson came to Bowyer’s Cup team after three years in RCR’s Nationwide Series shop. Most of the crew members came from Bowyer’s title-winning Nationwide team, too, as RCR started a fourth Cup team for Bowyer.

And there he was, helping teammate Kevin Harvick move toward the front of the pack late in the 500. Rain stopped the race 48 laps short of the scheduled distance, and Bowyer would’ve loved some more laps, for he may have had a chance at winning.

"I certainly would like to think so,” Bowyer said. “You never know. That's the bummer about this whole thing. I’m really proud of Shane Wilson and all the guys on the [team]. They did a good job in the offseason building a team from scratch. Really proud of them.”