Clint Bowyer
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Sylvania 300 – September 17, 2006
Venue: New Hampshire International Speedway – Loudon, N.H.
This Week’s Race Car at New Hampshire International Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No.141 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same car Bowyer made his NEXTEL Cup debut with last April at Phoenix and raced to a fifth-place finish earlier this season at the same track. He also finished 10th with this Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet in May at Richmond. Additionally, Dave Blaney raced the car last May at Richmond, both races at New Hampshire, last June at Pocono and last October at Martinsville.
Top Rook at Richmond … With his 12th-place finish last weekend at Richmond, Bowyer was named Raybestos Rookie of the Race. The solid effort marks the second consecutive week, and sixth time this season, the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Championship runner-up earned top rookie honors. The top-15 finish also propelled him two spots in NEXTEL Cup point standings. Over the last two races, Bowyer has moved from 20th to 16th in points.
RCR at The Magic Mile … RCR has one victory at New Hampshire with Robby Gordon handling the driving chores. Additionally, RCR owns eight top-five and 20 top-10 finishes at the flat, one-mile oval. Bowyer’s crew chief Gil Martin guided Gordon to the Winner’s Circle in November 2001, beating Sterling Marlin to the checkered flag by just over two seconds.
Four Times the Birthdays … Four members of the Jack Daniel’s Racing Team will celebrate birthdays this week. Jackman Carey Wimbish celebrates his 25th birthday on Wednesday and fabricator Jim Smith will be 42 on Friday. Tommy Wallace turns 36 on Sunday while crew chief Gil Martin will blow out 46 candles the same day.
Meet the Driver … Bowyer will sign autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer Sunday, September 17 from 9:45 a.m. – 10:15 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 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, Tenn., and the Distillery. The Jack Daniel’s Experience will be located on speedway grounds outside the infield tunnel between turns one and two.
No Rest for the Weary … As the NASCAR Busch Series enjoys a rare weekend off, Bowyer will make his second career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start. The Emporia, Kan., native will get behind the wheel of the No. 46 SKF Chevrolet fielded by Morgan-Dollar Motorsports for the New Hampshire 200 at NHIS. Jack Daniel’s will be featured on the truck’s deck lid and TV panel while Snap-On will adorn the rear quarter panels. Bowyer started third, led 83 laps and eventually finished seventh in his Truck Series debut earlier this season at Martinsville Speedway. Bowyer’s NEXTEL Cup Series over-the-wall crew, three-time winners of the Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge, will service the truck on pit road.
Trucks on TV … The New Hampshire 200 from New Hampshire International Speedway will be televised live on SPEED Saturday, September 16, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio will also carry the race broadcast live.
Up to Speed … The Sylvania 300 from New Hampshire International Speedway will be televised live on TNT, Sunday, September 17, beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT and broadcast live on MRN and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 27th points-paying race on 2006 NEXTEL Cup calendar will be televised live on SPEED Friday, September 15, at 3 p.m. EDT and broadcast live on MRN and XM Satellite Radio.
CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
You’re racing a truck for the second time in your career this weekend. Did you enjoy your last outing at Martinsville?
“It was a lot of fun. I’d like to race the trucks more. They’re a lot of fun and the series is very competitive. There are a lot of veteran competitors racing full time in the Truck Series who are a ball to race with. The trucks are just a lot of fun. They handle good and have a lot of drag so you can get away with more in a truck than you could in a Busch or a Cup car. I don’t think the truck race will help me all that much on Sunday. Like I said, the trucks have a ton of drag aerodynamically and they handle quite a bit differently, but it’s still laps on the race track and anytime you can get extra practice it always helps.”
What’s a typical lap at New Hampshire?
“It’s a fairly flat track with multi-grade banking. It’s really flat on the bottom, though. We had a really dominant Busch car in the spring. It felt like the banking was reversed where I was running and we were able to make a lot of passes. When you have a car that is that good, it makes it pretty easy to pass. It’s a racy track. You can get runs on people going around the outside or by getting a run up off the bottom. You can pass them on the bottom or you can pass them on the top if they’re blocking on the bottom. There’s a lot of different ways to pass at New Hampshire.”
With the Chase beginning, are you starting to count down the races until the end of the season?
“Not at all. I’m looking forward to the last 10 races. I think we’re on a roll with the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet. We’ve ran really well all year but we haven’t been able to get the finishes we deserve on a regular basis like we needed to. We’ve had a couple of problems the last month or so. We had the motor let go at Michigan and had a wheel fall off at Bristol but we were running up front when that stuff happened so that builds confidence and momentum going into the next week.”
