Clint Bowyer
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Bass Pro Shops 500 – October 29, 2006
Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga.
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 180 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Bowyer raced two weeks ago at Charlotte. After racing in the top five and leading a handful of laps, Bowyer was ultimately relegated to a 23rd-place finish in the Bank of America 500 after falling victim to transmission woes. Prior to Charlotte, it was a brand new race car.
RCR at the ATL … In 90 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS), RCR has earned four poles and nine wins including Kevin Harvick’s emotional victory in the Cracker Barrel 500 on March 11, 2001. Prior to that, Dale Earnhardt won eight times at the Hampton, Ga., track. Additionally, RCR boasts 23 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes at AMS. Childress, a former driver on NASCAR’s senior circuit, recorded his best finish at Atlanta with a ninth-place effort in the Atlanta Journal 500 on November 2, 1980.
RCR Championship Update … Although Jeff Burton finished 42nd last weekend at Martinsville and fell out of the top spot in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Championship, he is only 48 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. With his ninth-place effort last weekend, Kevin Harvick moved into second in the point standings and is a scant 36 markers behind Kenseth for the lead.
Clint Bowyer Non-Stop … Bowyer, along with fellow NEXTEL Cup drivers J.J. Yeley and Jeremy Mayfield, will be featured during this weekend’s premiere of “NASCAR Driver’s Non-Stop.” The reality-based show accompanied Bowyer recently on his vacation to Myrtle Beach, S.C. and to the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway. The program also highlights Bowyer’s go-kart exploits at Muddy Creek International Speedway, located near his North Carolina home. “NASCAR Driver’s Non-Stop” premieres Sunday, October 29 at 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on espn2.
Beale Street Busch Brawl … After a week off from Busch Series competition, Bowyer returns to the seat of the No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet for this week’s Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park. Bowyer will travel from Atlanta to Memphis with teammate Kevin Harvick via Harvick’s Lear 31. The Sam’s Town 250 will take the green flag Saturday, October 28 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and will be televised live on NBC. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite will also carry the race broadcast live. Brandon Miller will practice and qualify the No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet while Bowyer prepares for the Bass Pro Shops 500 at AMS.
New Kid in Town … Timothy Peters, the latest addition to the RCR stable of drivers, will make his Busch
Series debut behind the wheel of the No. 29 Emerson Climate Technologies/CarMax Chevrolet this weekend in Memphis. Peters is a veteran of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition and earned late model track championships at South Boston (Va.) Speedway (‘04) and Orange County Speedway (’02-’03) before signing with RCR in September.
Up to Speed … The Bass Pro Shops 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway will take the green Sunday, October 29 at 3 p.m. EST. The race will be broadcast live on NBC, the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 33rd of 36 points-paying races on the 2006 schedule will be televised live on SPEED Friday, October 27 at 7 p.m. EDT. MRN and XM Satellite Radio will provide qualifying updates live.
CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
Talk about your run at Atlanta in March.
“We didn’t end up finishing very well but we ran solid for most of the day and that’s been our story this year. As soon as we get this thing figured out, I think we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with. We’ve been able to drive from the back of the pack to the front many times this year. Looking to the future, I’ve got a lot of confidence knowing that once we get these long races figured out, we’re going to be good.”
You were running about 15th and appeared to be headed for a top 10 before you got in the wall late in the race.
“Yeah, we got into the wall up off of turn four and caved in the right-front fender. We had to work through some adversity but that’s what I like about our team. We don’t ever give up. We can get knocked down but we battle back and do our best to overcome whatever adversity comes our way. When things get rolling for us, and looking to the future, that’s what wins championships.”
What’s the big difference between Atlanta and the other mile-and-a-half race tracks on the schedule?
“It’s a lot higher banked and the track surface is getting a little more worn which makes it quite a bit slicker than a lot of the other ones. Atlanta is a lot of fun to race on. It’s a multi-groove race track. You can run down on the bottom around the yellow line and you can run clear up against the wall. You really have to be up on the wheel and drive the car hard. It’s a race track where you can drive hard and it pays off. At a lot of these mile-and-a-half race tracks, you can only get what your car will give you. If you try to get anymore out of it, you end up wrecked. At Atlanta, you can get up on the wheel, drive hard and gain ground.”
