Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

Pepsi 300 - Clint Bowyer Notes

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

Event/Date: Pepsi 300 – March 22, 2008
Venue: Nashville Superspeedway – Lebanon, Tenn.

NOTES:

This Week’s BB&T Chevrolet at Nashville Superspeedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 079 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) stable. Built new for 2008, this is the same No. 2 Chevrolet Bowyer raced to a third-place finish earlier this month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

A Look Back at Last Week … Bowyer is the most recent winner on the 35-race Nationwide Series tour after notching his sixth career win in last Saturday’s rain-abbreviated Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bowyer led three times for 122 laps and jumped from fifth to second in the NNS championship point standings.

In the Loop at Nashville …

In a Nutshell … In seven starts at Nashville Superspeedway, Bowyer has an impressive 5.6 starting average and a staggering 2.7 finishing average. The Emporia, Kan., driver has one win, three runner-up efforts and a third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishes. Over that same span, he has completed all 1,575 laps contested and has yet to finish outside the top five. His lone start outside the top five was his second career start for RCR when he went on to finish fourth.

Serious Stats … According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Bowyer leads the way at Nashville in the Average Running Position Category. His average position at the suburban Nashville race course is 3.943. That statistic is derived from taking the sum of his position on each lap divided by the number of laps run in each race. The six-time NNS winner also leads the Driver Rating Category with an incredible rating of 130.2. The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: 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 has also spent 1,083 of the 1,575 laps contested over his seven starts running in the top 15 and has led 286 laps.

Back Where it all Started … Nashville Superspeedway is the site of Bowyer’s first ARCA RE/MAX Series start. With a skeleton crew and a car fielded by fellow Kansan Scott Traylor, Bowyer started seventh, led 47 laps and finished second by a scant 1.58 seconds to Mario Gosselin on August 9, 2003. As fate would have it, RCR team owner Richard Childress was watching the race on SPEED from his motorcoach at Watkins Glen and ultimately inked Bowyer to a contract in November of the same year.

RCR at Nashville … In 27 previous Nationwide Series starts at Nashville Superspeedway, RCR has posted two wins (Kevin Harvick, April 2006; and Bowyer, June 2005), two poles (Johnny Sauter, June 2003; and Harvick, April 2001), 13 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. RCR cars have also led 584 laps at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.

Catch the Action … Flag-to-flag coverage of the Pepsi 300 from Nashville Superspeedway will be televised live on ESPN Saturday, March 22 beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the sixth of 35 races on the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 the same day at 11 a.m. EDT.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
Have you ever had a bad race at Nashville?
“You know, we really haven’t. It’s been a good race track for us and for me in particular. Nashville is kind of the reason why I got my job at RCR so it has been a special place for me since all of this started.”

Why do you think you pair up so well with Nashville Superspeedway?
“I think it’s probably because Nashville is the first big track I ever raced on. I remember going there and thinking you could build four of the tracks I was used to racing on inside that one. For whatever reason, Nashville just fits my driving style. I’ve always been fortunate enough to have good equipment and run well.”

What did you do with the trophy from your 2005 win?
“It’s sitting in a glass case in my office at home. It’s a unique trophy and I like cool things like that. I always wanted one of those guitars … especially with how it all started at Nashville Superspeedway. It was neat to win there and very gratifying to be able to pull into Victory Lane.”

How do you feel about the way the season has started?
“We got off to a bit of a slow start. Las Vegas was good for us and, obviously, winning last weekend at Bristol was a big shot in the arm for the BB&T team. The first two races weren’t quite up to snuff and we definitely needed to improve so I’m happy with where we’re at today. We’ve been able to gain some ground in the points and capitalize when some of the contenders for this championship had trouble. That’s what it takes to win championships – being able to capitalize on other people’s misfortune when it happens and try to control your own destiny.”