Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sharp Aquos 500 - Clint Bowyer Notes

Clint Bowyer
No. 07 DIRECTV Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Sharp AQUOS 500 – September 2, 2007
Venue: California Speedway – Fontana, Calif.

NOTES:

This Week’s DIRECTV Chevrolet at California Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 165 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series stable. This is the same No. 07 Chevrolet Bowyer drove in both races at Pocono (June St. 5 – Fn. 10; August St. 15 – Fn. 8). This is also the same car he raced to a sixth-place finish in May at the NEXTEL Open. Built new last season, Bowyer raced this car last March in Atlanta (St. 16 – Fn. 27), in May at Charlotte (St. 15 – Fn. 19) and in Michigan (St. 9 – Fn. 39) last June. Since last year, the car has been outfitted with all the required 2007 updates including a new body.

From Black to Blue … After showcasing a flat-black paint scheme last weekend commemorating Jack Daniel’s 157th birthday, Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevy will feature DIRECTV colors this weekend in Fontana. DIRECTV’s corporate headquarters are in El Segundo, Calif., just 68 miles west of California Speedway. Jack Daniel’s, the team’s customary primary sponsor, will be featured on No. 07’s lower-rear quarter panels and deck lid.

Don’t Miss a Beat … This weekend, Bowyer’s DIRECTV Chevy will be one of the five featured cars on DIRECTV’s HotPass Coverage. With a channel dedicated solely to the DIRECTV Chevy during the Sharp AQUOS 500, fans will be able to watch all the action through DIRECTV’s multiple camera angles, real-time car telemetry and listen to in-car audio communication. NASCAR HotPass, only on DIRECTV, features five driver channels including dedicated announcers for each team. The new service, combined with race day telecasts and nascar.com coverage, gives fans the most comprehensive and powerful NASCAR experience possible. Bowyer’s team will be showcased on DIRECTV channel 796 with Larry McReynolds and Mike Wallace providing the lap-by-lap coverage. DIRECTV customers can now purchase the remainder of the season for two payments of $24.50 – a savings of $50 off the full season price. More information is available on www.directv.com/hotpass.

Bowyer in the Loop …

Fontana Facts … In three NEXTEL Cup starts at California Speedway, Bowyer has one top-five and a pair of top-10 finishes, including a career-best third-place effort last September at the two-mile oval located approximately an hour east of Los Angeles. The Emporia, Kan., driver finished 14th in his series debut in Fontana and has completed all 751 laps contested over that span.

What a Difference a Year Makes … Over the season’s first 24 races, Bowyer has earned one pole, two top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. He has a 15.2 starting average and a 14.8 finishing average. The 28-year-old driver has completed 6,633 of 6,749 total laps contested (98.29 percent) and sits ninth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship point standings. Heading into round two at Fontana last season, Bowyer had a 22.2 starting average, a 20.8 average finish and was 20th in points. He had two top fives and just six top 10s at this point last year.

Speaking of Stats … Bowyer is the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series’ eighth-best Closer – a statistic derived from the number of positions improved over the last 10 percent of each race. Bowyer has gained an average of 1.167 spots over the season’s first 24 races and has improved a total of 28 positions over the closing 10 percent of those same races. The Emporia, Kan., native has also logged 3,956 of the 6,749 laps completed this season (58.6 percent) running in the top 15. Bowyer is ranked 13th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (15.725) and is also 14th in the Driver Rating category (84.9). The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.

Keep on Rolling … Bowyer has yet to record a DNF (did not finish) in 2007. He and teammate Kevin Harvick are the only two drivers in the top 10 in points to have finished every race this season. Bowyer has been running at the end of every race dating back to Bristol last August, a streak of 37 races.

Doing it on Pit Road … The No. 07 pit crew snagged the Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge during Saturday night’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, helping boost its team to a third-place finish. Checkers/Rally’s will award the No. 07 over-the-wall crew with the $11,000 prize given each week to the team that spends the least amount of time on pit road. An additional $111,150 prize will be presented to the pit crew with the most wins at the completion of the 36-race Nextel Cup schedule. The No. 07 crew, which spent 206.320 seconds on pit lane, includes: Carey Wimbish (jackman), Dail Long (front-tire carrier), Shane Westerberg (front-tire changer), Dustin Long (rear-tire carrier), Jake Lind (rear-tire changer), Mike Morrison (gasman), Clint “Ratto” Almquist (catch can) and Troy Welty (eighth man).

Coming Home … Clint “Ratto” Almquist, mechanic and catch can man for the DIRECTV Chevy, is a native of the Golden State. Almquist, 28, grew up in Blythe, Calif., approximately 175 miles east of Fontana.

Big Month for Birthdays … September is a big month for the DIRECTV Racing Team with four members of the team celebrating birthdays. Jackman Carey Wimbish will be 26 on September 13. Pit support specialist Wayne Harron celebrates his 34th birthday on September 15. Crew Chief Gil Martin will be 47 on September 17 and mechanic Tommy Wallace turns 36 the same day.

Back Where it All Started … For the first time since 2004, Bowyer will take the wheel of RCR’s No. 21 Chevy for this weekend’s Camping World 300 presented by RVs.com. The Emporia, Kan., native spent 2004 sharing driving duties with Kevin Harvick in RCR’s No. 21 Chevrolet. In 17 starts, Bowyer earned one pole, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Live coverage of the 27th of 35 races on the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series agenda will take the green flag Saturday, September 1 at 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will be televised on ESPN2 and broadcast from coast-to-coast on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Catch the Cup Race … Live coverage of the Sharp AQUOS 500 from California Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, September 2 beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. The race will be televised live on ESPN and broadcast worldwide on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 25th points-paying race on the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series schedule will be televised live on SPEED Friday, August 31 at 6 p.m. EDT.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
Do you like racing at California Speedway?
“California has been a good race track for us so I’m looking forward to getting out there. We’re taking a good car so that gives me a lot of confidence. We had a good finish last weekend at Bristol so that takes a little of the pressure off in terms of the Chase but we need stay on track this weekend and knock down another solid finish and lock ourselves in. I know we’ll be able to race hard these last two weekends before the Chase starts. California and Richmond are both good tracks for us so I like our chances at both places.”

What’s the key to being successful at California?
“You have to concentrate and hone in on having a good balance in the race car and that starts as soon as we unload. It starts with hard work at the shop before the car even gets to the race track. I know Gil (crew chief Gil Martin) has a good DIRECTV Chevrolet prepared for me and we’re going to go out there and be fast.”

Historically speaking, you’ve run very well at the mile, mile-and-a-half race tracks. If you had to guess, do you think a track like that is where you’ll get that elusive first win?
“I think it’s most likely to happen on a mile or a mile-and-a-half but honestly, I think this team can win at any track. RCR, as a whole, is trying to protect our position and make sure we get in the Chase. At the same time, we have to pick up the pace and take that next step. I believe in my team and I think we can win a race.”

What’s it going to take for you to be comfortable with where you’re at points-wise?
“As long as we keep doing the things we’ve been doing like finishing in the top 10 and top 15, they won’t be able to catch us. If we crash or break or have something else happen and a guy on the bubble wins and we finish 40th, they’ll catch us pretty quick. We just have to stay focused – stay honed in on what we can control and if we do all that we’ll be just fine. I truly believe that the only team that can beat us out of the Chase is ourselves.”

How much more fun has this year been as opposed to you rookie year?
“It’s been a lot more fun but I’m still learning. I’ve found myself in some unfamiliar situations so it helps that I’ve got a really good team around me. We’re having fun this year. We still haven’t gotten that first win so that’s at the top of the “to-do” list but, until then, we still have to get in this Chase. That’s what this series is all about and the biggest part of the year.”