Clint Bowyer: 'Something just didn't feel right' after 2014 Daytona DNF

Clint Bowyer's 2014 Speedweeks was memorable. However, it was not successful.

During his Gatorade Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500, Bowyer's car went flipping at the end of the race. Though he drove it to the finish line, his car was a bit beat up and his starting spot in the Daytona 500 suffered.

In the 500, Bowyer's car quit. However, unlike Martin Truex Jr.'s car, which suffered an engine failure very early in the race, Bowyer's car had engine problems after the race finally resumed following a lengthy rain delay. He had to wait out the weather only to not race.

It turned out to be an omen of sorts for Bowyer's 2014. The season turned out to be his second-straight without a win and he finished 19th in the points standings.

"We have to prove ourselves and I knew last year – I'm weird about thinking – but when we blew up at the start of the year at the Daytona 500, I knew something just didn't feel right because we've always been able to come down here and run pretty good and get the year started off right and leave here with momentum and excitement and confidence," Bowyer said. "We were all dejected leaving the first race so that was not very good."

Bowyer's 15 top-10 finishes in 2014 were the fewest he's had in a season since his rookie year of 2006.

Part of that downturn can be attributed to Michael Waltrip Racing's downsizing. After losing sponsor NAPA following the race manipulation incident in 2013. the team had two cars in 2014. While two of the team's three cars visited victory lane in 2013, neither car won in 2014.

Bowyer says the team has made changes in preparation for 2015. After all, he's just two seasons removed from finishing second to Brad Keselowski in the standings.

"We've restructured and put a lot of people in different situations," Bowyer said. "The camaraderie at the race shop is already way better. I feel like there were a lot of people with their hands tied, maybe too managed and not let them really showcase their talents because there are so many smart people in this business – engineers, they're coming through the woodwork. There are so many smart, younger people that are coming through the engineering world that have racing backgrounds. Some that were racers that didn't make it and now they're in it. There's just a tremendous amount of talent in the engineering side of this sport, but you have to allow that talent to showcase and give them an opportunity and some of those guys at MWR didn't. I feel like now it's a group effort. When you're in the meetings there's a lot of people and a lot of voices being heard and you didn't necessarily hear that last year."

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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