Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

Aaron’s 312 - Clint Bowyer Notes

Clint Bowyer
No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Aaron’s 312 – April 26, 2008
Venue: Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Ala.

NOTES:

This Week’s Camping World Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 053 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series stable. This is the same car Bowyer raced to a 25th-place finish in the season-opening Camping World 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

Camping World Colors … For the second race in the last three weeks, Bowyer’s No. 2 Chevy Monte Carlo SS will feature a blue and gold Camping World paint scheme. BB&T, Bowyer’s traditional sponsor in Nationwide Series competition, will be displayed on the lower-rear quarter panels and return to its usual primary sponsor position next weekend in Richmond.

Maybe Not What You’d Expect … In four starts at the famed 2.66-mile Talladega mega-oval, Bowyer has a less-than-expected 14.8 finishing average that includes just one top-five finish. On the flip side, the Emporia, Kan., native has a 3.5 starting average, including his first career pole in just his third Nationwide Series start.

Viva Mexico … Last weekend at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Bowyer started eighth and finished sixth. Despite losing minimal ground to Carl Edwards, he still maintains a nine-point advantage in the Nationwide Series championship point standings. The top-six effort was Bowyer’s best finish in three starts at the eight-turn, 2.518-mile road course.

Season in Review … Over the season’s first nine races, Bowyer has earned one win, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. The fifth-year NNS driver has led 200 laps and completed all but two of the 1,548 laps run to date.

Bowyer in the Loop …

Average Running Position … According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Bowyer leads all current NNS drivers in the Average Running Position category with a 6.390 ARP. The ARP is derived from taking the sum of a driver’s position on each lap and dividing it by the number of laps run in each race.

Driver Rating … At the same time, Bowyer enjoys a 113.6 Driver Rating – second only to Kyle Busch (117.6). 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.

Laps in the Top 15 … Meanwhile, the six-time NNS winner has spent 1,401 of the 1,548 laps completed this season (90.5 percent) running in the top 15.

Laps Led … Bowyer has led 200 laps in Nationwide competition this season and trails only Kyle Busch and two-time Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart in that category.

RCR at Talladega … In 17 previous Nationwide Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, RCR has posted two poles (Bowyer, April 2004; and Johnny Sauter, April 2002), five top-five and six top-10 finishes. RCR cars have also led 85 laps on Talladega’s high banks.

Three to Go … RCR has earned a Nationwide Series victory at 23 of the 26 tracks on the 2008 schedule. The only tracks on the current schedule where RCR hasn’t earned wins are Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Nine Races, Two Wins … In nine NNS races this season, RCR entries have notched two wins (Clint Bowyer – Bristol and Scott Wimmer – Nashville), nine top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. RCR cars have also led 285 of the 1,548 (18.4 percent) total laps run this season.

Stars Fell On … Bowyer’s spotter, Jimmy Kitchens, is a native of the Yellowhammer state. Kitchens, a former ARCA and NASCAR Nationwide Series racer, hails from Hueytown, Ala., located approximately 70 miles west of Talladega. Kitchens is a four-time champion at Birmingham International Raceway and has over 200 feature wins throughout the southeast in a late model stock car. He raced ARCA from 1997-1999 and ran Nationwide cars from 1998-2005. His last Nationwide Series start came at Talladega in 2005 where he finished 15th. His career-best finish was seventh at Talladega in April 2002.

Catching Up With Clint … Bowyer will be available outside the No. 07 transporter inside the Sprint Cup Series garage on Friday, April 25th at 1 p.m. to field questions from the gathered media.

Double Down in ‘Dega … Following his duties in the Camping World Chevrolet, Bowyer will turn his attention to the DIRECTV Chevy Impala SS for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The Aaron’s 499 from Talladega Superspeedway will take the green flag Sunday, April 27 at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on FOX beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT and broadcast worldwide on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the ninth event on the 36-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will be televised live on SPEED Saturday, April 26 at 11 a.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide qualifying updates live.

Up to Speed … The Aaron’s 312 will be televised live on ABC Saturday, April 26 beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The race will also be broadcast live on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 10th of 35 races on the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule will be televised live on SPEED Friday, April 25 beginning at 5 p.m. EDT.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
How different are the Nationwide Series races at Talladega from the ones at Daytona?
“Since they re-paved Talladega, the difference is like night and day. There are no handling issues at Talladega. The fastest car wins the race. Obviously, you have to be in position to do that but the bottom line is the fastest car wins the race.”

With the differences between the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series cars, is there a different feel or technique when it comes to drafting?
“The Nationwide cars suck up to other cars faster. They side-draft better. From an aerodynamic standpoint, the Nationwide car is a little bit better of an engineered piece than what we run in the Cup cars. They just work better and you can use that to your advantage.”