Race 2 Win: Busch Series Race Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

O'Reilly Challenge - Clint Bowyer Notes

Clint Bowyer
No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: O’Reilly Challenge – November 3, 2007
Venue: Texas Motor Speedway – Ft. Worth, Texas

NOTES:

This Week’s BB&T Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 069 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) stable. Built new for 2007, this is the same car Bowyer raced to wins earlier this season at Phoenix (St. 2 – Fn. 1) and Richmond (St. 8 – Fn. 1). The Emporia, Kan., native also finished sixth with this car in July at New Hampshire International Speedway. Most recently, this BB&T Chevrolet saw action in September at Richmond International Raceway but was scored 33rd in the final rundown after an incident on pit road cost Bowyer four laps.

A Different Look … Bowyer’s BB&T Chevrolet will showcase two subsidiaries of BB&T during this weekend’s O’Reilly Challenge. Sheffield Financial LLC will be featured on the car’s TV Panel and specializes in Small Ticket Equipment financing, primarily for the following industries: commercial lawn & outdoor power equipment; powersports, including ATV's, snowmobiles and trailers. Operating in all 50 states, Sheffield provides indirect credit for both small business & consumer customers of equipment manufacturers and dealers. Regional Acceptance Corporation will adorn the No. 2 machine’s rear quarter panels and specializes in indirect sub-prime auto financing. Regional Acceptance Corporation has approximately 38 branch offices throughout 20 states.

Back Where it All Started … Bowyer made his first-career NBS start at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) on April 3, 2004 behind the wheel of RCR’s No. 21 machine. The 28-year-old driver signed his first contract with RCR in December 2003 and made his first start at TMS the following April. In five starts at the remarkably-fast Ft. Worth tri-oval, Bowyer has a 20.8 starting average, a 17th-place average finish and a pair of top-10 showings to his credit.

Pretty Sporty Stuff … In 19 NBS starts this season, Bowyer has amassed two wins, 11 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. Despite sitting out 13 of the division’s 32 races to date, the five-time Busch Series winner has led 308 laps but fell from 13th to 14th in driver points after missing last weekend’s stop at Memphis Motorsports Park. Bowyer will compete in the final three races on the 2007 schedule.

RCR Busch Cars at Texas … In 21 NBS starts at TMS, RCR boasts one pole (Jeff Green – April 2002), three wins (Kevin Harvick, March 2001, April 2006 and November 2006), five top fives, 12 top 10s and has led 508 laps.

RCR Busch Brigade … In 32 NBS races this season, RCR has claimed 11 victories with the most recent coming three weeks ago at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with Jeff Burton. Kevin Harvick leads the way with five, Burton has four and Bowyer has two. Additionally, the three RCR Busch teams (No. 2, No. 21 and No. 29) have a total of 36 top-five and 54 top-10 finishes while leading 1,316 laps.

Chasing a Championship … Following his duties in the BB&T Chevrolet, Bowyer will turn his attention to the Jack Daniel’s Chevy for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Live coverage of the Dickies 500 from TMS will take the green flag Sunday, November 4 at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The race will be televised on ABC and broadcast worldwide on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the eighth round of NASCAR’s 10-race playoffs will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, November 2 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide live qualifying updates. Bowyer is currently third in the Chase for the NASCAR Cup and trails leader Jeff Gordon by 111 points.

Up to Speed … Live coverage of the O’Reilly Challenge will take the green flag Saturday, November 3 at beginning at 3 p.m. EDT. The race will be televised live on ESPN2 and broadcast on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 33rd of 35 races on the 2007 Busch Series schedule will be televised live on SPEED Friday, November 2 at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
Do you ever think about how far you’ve come since you made your first Busch Series start at Texas back in 2004?
“I thought a lot about it back in April when I rolled out on the race track in the Cup car. It really made me think about how far I’ve come in a relatively short period. I feel like Texas is where I got my start so it’s a special place for me personally. It’s also fairly close to Kansas so I always have a lot of family and friends come down to see me race. I always look forward to going to Texas.”

What do you remember about your first Busch Series race?
“We tested there and were really good. I qualified sixth but obviously, I didn’t have any experience on a big race track like that so it was a pretty steep learning curve but you have to learn somewhere. That’s the hardest thing for a lot of these new drivers and it was the same for me when I made my first start. You’re out there, basically trying out for a job, and you don’t want to screw up. It was an unbelievable amount of pressure. I crashed during the race and the first thing I thought about was getting fired and having to go back to Kansas. I’m glad Richard (Childress) gave me another crack at it.”