Clint Bowyer
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Neighborhood Excellence 400 – June 4, 2006
Venue: Dover International Speedway – Dover, Del.
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car at Dover International Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 136 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same car Bowyer raced to a 22nd-place finish in April at Martinsville. Built new for 2005, Dave Blaney drove the car last spring in the NEXTEL Open at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Blaney also raced this car last June at Michigan and last November at Phoenix. Since then, with the exception of the chassis’ center section, the car has been completely rebuilt from the ground up.
Back in Black … After sporting a Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails paint scheme in the Coca-Cola 600 last weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevy will return to it’s traditional black and white Jack Daniel’s look at Dover.
RCR at Dover … RCR Team owner Richard Childress has earned three wins at Dover, all of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt won both events at the “Monster Mile” in 1989. The seven-time champion also won the spring race at Dover in 1993. Additionally, RCR has earned one pole, 17 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes at the high-banked concrete oval. Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division contributed three of those top 10s from 1976-1980.
Through the First Dozen … Over the course of the first 12 races on the 2006 NEXTEL Cup schedule, Bowyer has produced one top-five, three top-10 and seven top-20 finishes. At the same time, the 2006 Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate has led 21 laps and recorded a 20.6 average start and a 19.1 average finish. He is currently second in Rookie of the Year standings, 13 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.
The Tender Old Age of 27 … Bowyer celebrates his 27th birthday on Tuesday, May 30.
See it From Their Side … Bowyer and the Jack Daniel’s Racing Team will be featured on this week’s episode of NASCAR Beyond the Wheel. NASCAR Beyond the Wheel offers unprecedented coverage from the "inside" of Nextel Cup races, with “live wire” audio via full teams mic'd for behind the scenes real time audio, team radio communication and exclusive video from crews embedded with a different team each weekend. Beyond the Wheel will be televised on SPEED Thursday, June 1 at 8 p.m. and again at 11 p.m. EDT. The show will re-air Friday, June 2 at 8 a.m. and again at 10:30 a.m. The episode will also air on Sunday, June 4 at 11 a.m. EDT.
Clint Bowyer Live … Bowyer will sign autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer Sunday, June 4 from 10:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. Tickets for autographs will be available at the trailer the day of the race on a first-come-first-serve basis and are limited in supply due to time constraints.
Double Down at Dover Downs … Bowyer returns to the seat of the No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet on Saturday, June 3 for the StonbridgeRacing.com 200 NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) race. The race will be televised live on FX beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Following a tough weekend at Charlotte, Bowyer fell to third in the NBS championship chase, 91points behind second-place Carl Edwards and 439 markers behind leader and RCR teammate Kevin Harvick.
Up to Speed … The Neighborhood Excellence 400 from Dover International Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, June 4 at 1:30 p.m. EDT and will be telecast live on FX. The event will also be broadcast live on MRN and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised on a same-day-delayed basis on SPEED Friday, June 2 beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT. MRN and XM Satellite Radio will provide live qualifying updates beginning at 3 p.m. EDT.
CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
Talk a little bit about your experience at Dover.
“I ran my first race at Dover last June and we were terrible but we bounced back pretty well last fall and almost won the race. I think I was the difference between the first and second races at Dover last year. I figured out how to get around the race track the second time. That’s what my crew chief Gil (Martin) said any way. He said I all of a sudden learned how to drive the place (laughs). We definitely figured things out the second time. I like Dover. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a challenging race track where you need to get up on the wheel and make it happen.”
What does Dover feel like compared to Bristol, the other concrete race track the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series visits?
“It’s fast. You carry a lot of speed. It’s just like a big Bristol. Dover is a big fish bowl. You gotta hold on tight and go for it.”
When you get into trouble at Dover or see other people get into trouble, is there anywhere to go?
“That’s the hardest thing about tracks like Dover and Bristol. When they get tangled up in front of you, you better pick a good line to get through and hope it’s the right line. If you choose poorly, your day can be over in a big hurry.”
