Clint Bowyer
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Golden Corral 500 – March 19, 2006
Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga.
This Week’s Race Car at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 165 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is a brand new Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet.
Old No. 7 … Clint Bowyer is seventh in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship point standings. He is the only Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender in the top 10. Bowyer leads the Rookie of the Year standings with a seven point advantage over Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley.
Consistency is King … Bowyer has finished 15th or better in all three NEXTEL Cup Series races this season. Bowyer is joined by Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears as the only other drivers to have finished in the top 15 of each of the season’s first three events.
Back in Black … After being sponsored by HBO’s hit series The Sopranos last weekend at Las Vegas, Jack Daniel’s will return as the primary sponsor of Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevy this weekend at AMS.
Burton Breaks Through … With his seventh-place finish last weekend, Bowyer’s teammate Jeff Burton moved into 10th in the NEXTEL Cup Series point standings giving team owner Richard Childress two cars in the top 10.
Batting 1000 … Bowyer has been running at the finish of all three NEXTEL Cup races this season and has completed all 724 laps of competition.
Double Duty … Bowyer will once again return to the seat of RCR’s No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet on Saturday, March 18 in the Nicorette 300 NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) race. The race will be televised live on FX beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and also broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Bowyer is currently fifth in the NBS championship battle.
CB at the SPEED Stage … Bowyer will be a guest on this week’s installment of Trackside Live. Trackside Live will shoot this week’s show from the SPEED Stage Friday, March 17 from 5 – 6 p.m. The SPEED Stage will be located in the display area, outside the front straightaway near Turn 4.
Meet the Driver … Bowyer will sign autographs Sunday, March 19 from 10 – 10:30 a.m. at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer. A limited number of tickets to obtain autographs will be available at the trailer the morning of the event and are limited in supply due to time constraints.
Experiences are Essential … Following his stop at the souvenir trailer, Bowyer will make a quick appearance at the Jack Daniel’s Experience for a question and answer session from 10:45 – 11 a.m. The Jack Daniel’s Experience will be located in the display area outside the front straightaway near Turn 4.
Up to Speed … The Golden Corral 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, March 19 at 1:30 p.m. EST and will be telecast live on FOX. The event will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying will air live on SPEED, PRN and XM Satellite Radio Friday, March 17 at 7 p.m. EST.
CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
Talk about Atlanta. Is it a race track you enjoy?
“Atlanta separates the men from the boys, that’s for sure. You’ve got to let it all hang out and go for broke. It’s a very fast race track. The coolest thing about Atlanta is that it’s fast, but it’s not that one-groove fast, kind of like Texas. You can race there two-and three-wide. You’ve got a car clear up by the wall and clear down on the white line and one running in the middle. It’s really a racy racetrack – a lot of fun to race on and I’m looking forward to it.”
GIL MARTIN QUOTES:
After three races, what’s you evaluation of how Clint is developing as a driver in the NEXTEL Cup Series?
“To a lot of people’s surprise, I think Clint has been better than a lot of people thought. From what I’ve seen over the last year, his patience level is really paying off during these long races. I’m not surprised. He’s done about how I thought he would do. We’ve got a couple of things that he hasn’t had to do a lot of like pitting under green or some of the qualifying procedures we’re going through. He’s used to the impound procedures like we went through in the Busch Series last year but I think after he has a few more races under his belt, we’ll be right where we need to be.”
Explain a little bit about where you think the team is in terms of development. You’ve got a handful of guys from last year’s team but you also brought some guys with you from the Busch team.
“The leadership that Andrew Mason provides in the shop – I don’t think you can place a number or a value on what he’s done. He’s done a great job of getting the cars prepared before we leave the shop. Phil Gould, with John Leibensperger’s help, has done a great job of getting the cars set up. Ratto (Clint Almquist) has really stepped up to the plate. He has some direction this year and that’s really helped showcase his talents. Even Mike Geato, with the tires, has been a big part of our early success. He’s done such a good job at the race track that our consistency level is better because of it. Front to back, it’s the dedication of this whole team that makes everything go.”
When you think about the guys who were on the team last year that are still here, do you think a change of scenery has helped those guys hit their stride?
“The talent has always been there but there’s nothing like a good weekend to bring everyone’s morale up. The test of us as a team is when we have a bad weekend and how everybody handles it. Right now, with the focus everybody’s got and just the fact that every day when everybody comes to work, they have a goal in mind and know their obligations. I think that makes everyone more in tune with the race car and that keeps them happy because they feel more involved.”
From a crew chief’s standpoint, what’s they key to going fast at Atlanta?
“Clint’s comfort level is the most important thing for us. Coming off the truck and having the car where it’s comfortable. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the fastest car, but as long as Clint has a comfort level with it, we’ll be fine. As long as the car is good and secure when Clint drives off into the first corner, we’ll have his attention all weekend long. He won’t be worried about Atlanta – the fastest track on the circuit or stuff that he’s going to hear all weekend. The key to going fast is going to be security right off the truck.
