Race 2 Win: USG Sheetrock 400 - Clint Bowyer Notes

Nextel Cup Series

USG Sheetrock 400 - Clint Bowyer Notes

Clint Bowyer
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: USG Sheetrock 400 – July 9, 2006
Venue: Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, Ill.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Chicagoland Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 146 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for 2005, this is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Dave Blaney raced twice last year at Pocono. He also drove this car at Chicagoland Speedway in July and in September at Fontana. Since then, with the exception of the car’s center section and rear clip, it has been completely rebuilt. Bowyer was running 13th with this car in April at Texas but with one lap to go he was spun out and forced to settle for a 19th-place finish.

RCR at Chicago … Kevin Harvick scored back-to-back wins for RCR in the 2001-2002 Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland. Additionally, RCR owns two top-five and five top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile suburban Chicago oval.

The Winning Touch … Bowyer’s crew chief Gil Martin guided Harvick to the checkered flag in the 2002 Tropicana 400.

Rookie of the Race … On the heels of his top-10 performance last week at Daytona, Bowyer earned the Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors. His 10th-place finish marked his fourth top 10 of the season and the third time he was the highest finishing Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender. Bowyer is currently second in the rookie of the year battle, 28 points behind Denny Hamlin.

Testing, One, Two, Three, Testing … Immediately following this weekend’s race at Chicagoland, Bowyer and the Jack Daniel’s Racing Team will head to Indianapolis to prepare for next month’s Allstate 400 at The Brickyard. The test will be the fifth of six allowed under NASCAR’s 2006 testing policy. The remaining test available to teams in NASCAR’s top division will be conducted at Homestead-Miami Speedway October 16-18.

NASCAR Night at Elko Speedway … Bowyer, along with fellow NEXTEL Cup drivers Denny Hamlin, J.J. Yeley, David Stremme and Casey Mears, will be on hand at Elko (Minn.) Speedway on Wednesday, July 5. All drivers will participate in VIP meet and greets, a general autograph session, a NEXTEL Cup grudge match and a 40-lap Super Late Model feature race. Elko Speedway is a high-banked three-eighths-mile oval located 30 minutes south of Minneapolis.

Clint Bowyer Live … In conjunction with this weekend’s “Race Fan Rally,” held in Joliet’s City Center, race fans 21 and older can meet Bowyer Thursday, July 6 at Sapphire Nightclub, 22 West Cass Street from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Lots of Chances to Meet the Driver … Bowyer will sign autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer Sunday, July 9 from 10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. Tickets for autographs will be available at the trailer the morning of the race and are limited in supply due to time constraints. Immediately following his appearance at the souvenir trailer, Bowyer will stop at the Jack Daniel’s Experience for a 15 minute question and answer session. The Jack Daniel’s Experience will be located in the track’s display area outside the front straightaway between the start/finish line and turn four.

Busch Series Bulletin … Once again, Bowyer returns to the seat of RCR’s No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet this weekend at Chicagoland as the NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) blows into the Windy City for round 19 on the 35-race Busch Series tour. Live television coverage of the USG Durock 300 will take the green flag Saturday, July 8 at 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on TNT. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio will also broadcast the race live from coast to coast. After a strong sixth-place showing in the Winn Dixie 250 last week at Daytona, Bowyer moved into third in the NBS championship point standings and trails only Carl Edwards and RCR teammate Kevin Harvick.

Up to Speed … The USG Sheetrock 400 from Chicagoland Speedway will be televised live on TNT, Sunday, July 9, beginning at 3 p.m. EDT and broadcast live on MRN and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 18th points-paying race on 2006 NEXTEL Cup calendar will be televised live on SPEED Friday, July 7 at 4:30 p.m. EDT and broadcast live on MRN and XM Satellite Radio.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
You’ve got some experience at Chicagoland in the Busch car … talk a little bit about the race track.
“I like Chicagoland. It’s similar to my home track at Kansas Speedway so I really want to have a good showing this weekend, hopefully learn some things and carry that over when we go to Kansas in October. It’s so similar to Kansas Speedway, that it’s important to me, and don’t get me wrong, it’s important at every race track, but especially at Chicago to run good. If we run good at Chicago, it will give me extra confidence when we get to Kansas. The same car is going to be good at both places”

You ran fairly well in the ACDelco Chevrolet last year at Chicago so what’s the key to getting around the track?
“It’s pretty much the same old story. You need a good handling race car. It needs to be good back in the pack and it has got to be turning good in the center. You’re going to get tight later in the run so you’re going to have to hold on to it early because you need to start out on the free side to be good 20 -30 laps into the run. We’ll spend a lot of time working on long runs. Long runs on a race track like that is what it’s all about. You get spread out and get to running for awhile. The guy who can keep his car turning all day is going to be the guy who prevails. You probably won’t see someone back into a win at Chicago.”

Has Chicago become a two-groove race track or is there still one preferred way to get around there?
“There’s pretty much one preferred way – right down on the bottom. It starts to open up a little bit and you can try something once in a while, but really, you have to be on the bottom.”