Clint Bowyer
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Sharpie 500 – August 26, 2006
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tenn.
This Week’s Race Car at Bristol Motor Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 156 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same car Bowyer raced to a 13th-place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway during the NEXTEL Open in May. Built new at the end of 2005, this is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Dave Blaney raced last October at Kansas, Charlotte and Atlanta. Blaney also drove this car to a sixth-place finish in last year’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Since then, the chassis has remained intact but the body has been completely replaced.
Happy Birthday Mr. Jack … Bowyer’s Jack Daniel’s Chevy will sport a commemorative “Happy Birthday Jack” paint scheme this weekend at Bristol. Jasper Newton ‘Jack’ Daniel would have turned 156 in September.
Tennessee Tradition … Located just over 300 miles from Bristol, the Jack Daniel’s Distillery was officially registered with the U.S. government in 1866. The Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, Proprietor, is the oldest registered distillery in the United States and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Jack Daniel’s is sold in over 135 countries, but every drop is distilled, matured and bottled at the Distillery in Lynchburg, (Pop. 361) Tenn., – located in a dry county.
Testing One, Two, Three, Testing … On Wednesday, August 23, Bowyer and the Jack Daniel’s Racing Team will test at Nashville Superspeedway to evaluate and prepare for the remaining races at intermediate tracks on the 2006 schedule. The test will help Bowyer and company get ready for the upcoming races at California, Kansas, Charlotte, Texas and Homestead.
RCR at Bristol … In 93 NEXTEL Cup Series starts at Bristol, RCR boasts eight wins – seven with Dale Earnhardt and one with Kevin Harvick – three poles, 23 top-five and 41 top-10 finishes. Additionally, in 29 starts, RCR Busch Series teams have claimed five wins, three poles, 14 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.
Meet the Driver … Bowyer will sign autographs Saturday, August 26 from 3:30 p.m. – 4 p.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.
Are you Experienced … Immediately following his appearance at the souvenir trailer, Bowyer and the entire Jack Daniel’s Racing Team will appear at the Jack Daniel’s Experience from 4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. to raise a toast in honor of Mr. Jack Daniel’s birthday. Lemonade and birthday cake will be served while supplies last. This weekend, the Jack Daniel’s Experience offers a full service bar and will be open on Wednesday and Thursday from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. Hours of operation on Friday and Saturday will be 10 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. The Jack Daniel’s Experience is a 53-foot tractor trailer filled with artifacts, state-of-the art video monitors, sound system and graphics to give race fans a taste of Lynchburg and the Distillery. The Jack Daniel’s Experience will be located on speedway grounds outside the front straightaway towards turn four.
Busch Brawl at Bristol … Bowyer returns to the seat of RCR’s No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet for this weekend’s Food City 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at Bristol Friday night, August 25. The 26th of 35 Busch Series races on the 2006 calendar will be televised live on TNT beginning at 7:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Bowyer is fourth in the NBS championship battle, 99 points out of third and 101 behind second. Bowyer’s RCR teammate Kevin Harvick holds a commanding 484 point lead over Denny Hamlin in second place.
Catch the Action … Live television coverage of the Sharpie 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway gets underway Saturday, August 26 beginning at 7 p.m. EDT on TNT. The race will also be broadcast nationwide live on PRN and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 24th of 36 races on the 2006 NEXTEL Cup schedule will take the green flag Friday, August 24 at 3:40 p.m. EDT will be televised live on SPEED. PRN and XM Satellite radio will also carry time trials live.
CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
You’re first outing at Bristol in the Jack Daniel’s Chevy was pretty frustrating.
“Yeah it was. I wasn’t very patient in the spring race. The Cup cars handle quite a bit different than a Busch car does at Bristol and the Busch car is what I was used to running. I think I learned a lot during the last race that I can put to good use this time. I like Bristol and always look forward to racing there. Hopefully we can bounce back from a frustrating finish last weekend at Michigan and have a good weekend at Bristol.”
What was the big difference between the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet on the Cup side from the ACDelco Chevy on the Busch side?
“It’s just a matter of being comfortable. I wasn’t very comfortable in the Cup car. There were a lot of unknowns going into the March race on the Cup side. I’m a lot more comfortable and confident now.”
What’s your wildest moment at Bristol?
“Going backward down the back straightaway. I got checked up for someone who spun in front of me and somebody got in the back of me and spun me out. I did a 360 down the back straightaway but I never hit anything. You don’t see that very often. I got pretty lucky.”
GIL MARTIN QUOTES:
As a crew chief, do you hold your breath for most of the night at Bristol?
“Basically, it’s just trying to pace yourself at the beginning of the race – not to get any damage and try and be there at the end. It’s all about survival for the first three-quarters of the race.”
You’re a native of Nashville so does that make Bristol more a home track for you? Is Bristol a little more special for you since you’re a native of Tennessee?
“Not only that but I think it is for everybody. I think it’s a race everybody looks forward too all year long mainly because of the atmosphere of the night race. Another reason everyone likes Bristol is because it’s more of a fight and a battle than a race. That’s why it’s more prestigious to win than t a lot of the other places we go.”
When you pick a car to take to Bristol, do you almost have to budget on not bringing it back in one piece?
“You have to budget to replace the body. You have to plan on taking a car that is scheduled for a new body or something along those lines. If a car is scheduled to be updated in the near future, that’s a good car to take to Bristol because it’s going to need a lot of work either way. It’s the same with Martinsville. You’re going to sustain so much damage that you might as well just plan on putting a new body on the car.”
Is the winner one of the only guys whose car isn’t torn up at the end of the race?
“You’ll definitely have some dings or something but most of the time the winner isn’t going to be tore up very much. It’s just like any place else. You’re not going to tear your car up and win.”
