Clint Bowyer
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: AMD at the Glen – August 13, 2006
Venue: Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, N.Y.
This Week’s Race Car at Watkins Glen International … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 171 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for 2006, this is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Bowyer raced to a 16th-place finish in June at Infineon Raceway.
Practice Makes Perfect … On Wednesday, August 2, Bowyer received instruction at Watkins Glen International in preparation for this weekend’s NEXTEL Cup event at the upstate New York, 11-turn road course. Veteran road racing instructor Chris Cook helped prepare Bowyer for his first NEXTEL Cup start at the high-speed 2.45-mile circuit.
Keep on Testing … On Wednesday, August 9, Bowyer will spend the day at Carolina Motorsports Park, a 2.2-mile road course in Kershaw, S.C. testing transmissions as the NEXTEL Cup Series heads into its final road race of the season.
Not Bad for a Dirt Guy … In three NASCAR Busch Series road course starts, Bowyer has completed 100 percent of the laps and posted a 12.7 finishing average. Not bad for a racer who hadn’t logged a single lap on a road course prior to 2005. In his NEXTEL Cup road racing debut at Sonoma in June, Bowyer started 28th and finished 16th.
RCR at the Glen … In 33 starts at Watkins Glen International, RCR has earned one win (Robby Gordon 2003), seven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes with seven different drivers. Additionally, Dale Earnhardt won the pole three times (1990. ’92, ’96).
Top Rookie at the Brickyard … Last weekend at Indianapolis, Bowyer’s fourth-place finish earned him Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors. The formidable effort was his best finish in 22 career NEXTEL Cup starts. The strong performance was Bowyer’s second top-five and sixth top-10 finish of the season and moved him up two positions, to 17th, in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship point standings.
Meet the Driver … Bowyer will sign autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer Sunday, August 13 from 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Tickets will be available at the trailer the morning of the race and are limited in supply due to time constraints.
Tuning up for Sunday … As usual, Bowyer returns to the seat of the No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet for this weekend’s Zippo 200 NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) race at the Glen Saturday, August 12. The race will be televised live on NBC beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio. After being collected in an early race incident last weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Bowyer fell to fourth in the NBS point standings trailing Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and RCR teammate Kevin Harvick.
Up to Speed … Live coverage of AMD at the Glen will take the green flag Sunday, August 13 at 1 p.m. EDT and will be telecast live on NBC. The event will also be broadcast live on MRN and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on SPEED Friday, August 11 beginning at 3 p.m. EDT. MRN and XM Satellite Radio will provide live qualifying updates beginning at 3 p.m. EDT.
CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
How do you feel as a NEXTEL Cup road racer following Sonoma?
“I like Sonoma. For whatever reason, I really like road racing but I just struggled at Watkins Glen in the Busch car last year. Watkins Glen is a lot faster than Sonoma. The speeds at Watkins Glen are dramatically higher than they are at Sonoma. You carry a lot more speed at Watkins Glen through the esses. To me, they are way different race tracks. Yeah, you’re turning right but you’re turning right at a lot higher speed at Watkins Glen. Hopefully, I’ll be a little better this year since I’ve got quite a bit more practice under my belt.”
Is there one particular thing you feel like you need to work on as a road racer to get better? Is there one thing you can point too and say ‘hey, this will make me better?’
“Hitting my marks and being there lap after lap. There is so much more going on at a road course. You’re shifting all the time - up and down through the gear box, looking for the apexes of the corners, hitting your marks. You always hear us talk about that at the ovals but at an oval there are only two or three marks you have to hit. On a road course, there’s probably a dozen or so. You need to get in your groove and get in a good rhythm right away. It seems like more and more, saving fuel is a big part of it. I’m looking forward to it. Road racing is a big challenge for me. Hopefully we can back up our finish at Indianapolis and come out of Watkins Glen with another good finish.”
Were there any roads near where you grew up in Kansas where you’d go and let it all hang out and maybe do a little impromptu road racing?
“Well, the Midwest is pretty much on the grid system. The roads are pretty flat and pretty straight until you get to the 90-degree corner at the intersections. It is what it is. I didn’t grow up racing go-karts on road courses like a lot of these guys did but that’s no excuse. I’ve got to go to Watkins Glen this weekend and get the job done just like everyone else.”
