Some observers had thought Bowyer, driving a for new team at RCR and paired with a new crew chief this year, might struggle, at least for a while, as he tries to build chemistry with crew chief Shane Wilson.

It hasn’t happened so far, though.

Bowyer finished sixth in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, marking his third finish of sixth or better in the season’s opening four races.

“It was a good day for the BB&T Chevrolet,” said Bowyer of the car sponsored by BB&T bank. “We were definitely better when we had long green-flag runs and the sun was out.”

Despite not appearing to have one of the top two or three cars in the race, Bowyer ran in the top 10 for most of the event. He was eighth on a restart with two laps to go and was able to gain two spots to garner his solid finish.

Even though he lost some points to series leader Jeff Gordon, who finished second in the race, Bowyer held on to second in the standings. He now trails the Hendrick Motorsports driver by 43 points. Race winner Kurt Busch moved within three points of Bowyer and sits third.

“Another sixth-place finish at Atlanta,” Bowyer said. “We can't seem to shake that finish; that's the fourth time we've finished there. We needed to be a little better on the short runs, but all in all, it was a good points day for us."

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