Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

Sharpie Mini 300 - Clint Bowyer Notes

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

Event/Date: Sharpie Mini 300 – March 15, 2008
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tenn.

This Week’s BB&T Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 063 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) stable. This is the same BB&T Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Bowyer drove to a ninth-place finish in the 2007 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Since then, the car has been reskinned and outfitted with all the required 2008 updates.

Bowyer in the Loop …

The Bristol Report … In six NNS starts at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS), Bowyer has a pair of fourth-place finishes to call career-bests at “Thunder Valley.” The Emporia, Kan., native has finished on the lead lap in all six races and has two top fives and three top 10s. In NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) competition at the 36-degree banked speedway, Bowyer notched an eighth-place finish last March and a third-place showing last August. In four NSCS races at BMS, the 28-year-old driver owns a 21.8 starting average and a 19.5 average finish. He has completed 1,914 of the 2,004 total laps contested over that span.

Speaking of Stats … According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Bowyer has spent 79 percent of the laps contested this season running in the top 15. Of the 670 laps run during the division’s first four races, Bowyer has been in the top 15 for 530 of those laps. He is fifth in the Average Running Position category (8.93) and fifth in the Driver Rating category (102.8). The Driver Rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator. Bowyer is also the division’s ninth-best Closer – a statistic derived from the number of positions improved over the closing 10 percent of each race. Bowyer has gained an average of 1.25 spots over the season’s first four races and has improved a total of five positions over the closing 10 percent of those same races. He is also ranked fifth in the Quality Passes category. Bowyer has made 165 passes while running in the top 15 under green-flag conditions.

RCR at Bristol … Richard Childress leads the way in Nationwide Series car owner victories at Bristol with five – four of them coming with Kevin Harvick and one with Jeff Green. In 38 starts, RCR boasts five wins, four poles, 17 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes. Meanwhile, RCR-prepared Nationwide Series cars have led 1,313 laps at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.”

A Couple of Birthdays This Week … The BB&T racing teams boasts two birthdays amongst its ranks this week. Team engineer Matt Swiderski turned 27 on Monday and tire specialist Cruz Gonzales celebrates his 25th birthday on Wednesday.

Catch the Cup Race … Following his duties behind the wheel of the BB&T Chevy, Bowyer will turn his attention to the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS for Sunday’s Food City 500. Live coverage will take the green flag Sunday, March 16 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will be televised live on FOX and broadcast worldwide on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fifth race of 2008 for NASCAR’s premiere division will be televised live on SPEED Friday, March 14 at 3:30 p.m. EDT. PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will also carry qualifying live.

Up to Speed … The Sharpie Mini 300 from Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live on ABC Saturday, March 15 beginning at 2 p.m. EDT. The race will be broadcast live on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fifth race of the season for NASCAR’s junior circuit is scheduled for Saturday at 9:40 a.m. local time.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
You’ve completed every lap at Bristol since the first time you strapped into a Nationwide car. How is that even possible?
“I guess I’m just careful but I don’t want to jinx myself. I like Bristol. It’s a race track I hope to win on someday. Obviously, it’s a high-banked half-mile and I won a championship at I-70 Speedway near Kansas City, another high-banked short track, so maybe that is what helped prepare me for Bristol. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

What’s the key to being fast at Bristol?
“It’s a rhythm track. My teammate Kevin Harvick is really good at Bristol so I’ve learned a lot from him. You have to hit your marks in every corner. If you get out of rhythm it usually takes about a lap or two to get back into your groove. When you catch a car, you have to catch him and go. If you get held up behind someone you lose your drive and lose your run. You have to time it where you catch someone off the corner and go by.”

Have you ever stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong at Bristol and gotten yourself in trouble?
“I’ve done a 360 down the back straightaway. There was trouble in front of me and I checked up and got run into from behind. That’s something you have to be of careful of. You can’t check up too much because the guy behind you will be up your rear-end before you know it. It’s a fun race track, though. Every NASCAR fan needs to go to Bristol. That’s the track to watch a race from the grandstands. Bristol always puts on a good show.”