Nov 14, 2014; Homestead, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer during qualifying for the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

What has been a curse, of sorts, for one Michael Waltrip Racing driver now looks to be a blessing for another. Not that it’s the way Clint Bowyer wants to gain entry into the Sprint Unlimited NASCAR Sprint Cup Series exhibition race scheduled for Feb. 14 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, but Bowyer looks to be in, now, because of the continued health issues of MWR teammate Brian Vickers.

NASCAR recently unveiled its criteria for qualifying for the 2015 Sprint Unlimited. That criteria opened the race up to 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers, previous Unlimited winners, 2014 pole sitters and previous Daytona 500 pole sitters.

Vickers was awarded entry in the upcoming Unlimited by virtue of a pole in 2014, but Vickers and MWR has since announced that Vickers will miss the early portion of the 2015 season as he recovers from a recent surgery necessitated by his body rejecting a patch put on his heart during an earlier surgery. Missing the early races of the upcoming season will mark the third time since 2010 that Vickers has been sidelined by heart and blood clotting issues.

When NASCAR listed the drivers eligible for the 2015 Sprint Unlimited through the new qualifying criteria, that list included 25 drivers, including Vickers. The NASCAR announcement also stipulated that the Unlimited field would consist of at least 25 drivers, with the field, if need be, completed by drivers not already qualified who finished highest in the 2014 championship points standings.

With Vickers’ absence, the list of qualified drivers drops to 24, requiring NASCAR to pluck one of the remaining drivers on points. The highest driver not already qualified who finished the highest among those drivers in the season-ending points season is none other than Vickers’ Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, Bowyer. Bowyer finished out 2014 19th in the standings.

Bowyer’s entry into the Sprint Unlimited isn’t official at this time, but then again, neither is anyone else’s. But chances are, the No. 15 (Bowyer) will be the Unlimited replacement for the No. 55 (Vickers).

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