Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Pepsi 400 - Clint Bowyer Notes

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

Event/Date: Pepsi 400 – July 7, 2007
Venue: Daytona International Speedway – Daytona, Beach, Fla.

NOTES:

This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 160 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Bowyer raced last May at Talladega (St. 12, Fn. 40). He also finished 10th with this car in the Pepsi 400 last July.

Back on Track with Mr. Jack … After showcasing a blue and gold Camping World paint scheme last weekend at New Hampshire, Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevy returns to its classic black and white Jack Daniel’s colors this weekend at DIS.

RCR Rocks Daytona … Dating back to 1986, RCR has won seven poles and owns 23 total victories at DIS, including Kevin Harvick’s dramatic win in the 2007 season-opening Daytona 500. Additionally, RCR won 10 straight (1990-1999) Twin 125s with Dale Earnhardt. All totaled, RCR has won five Bud Shootouts, 13 Twin 125 qualifying races, two Pepsi 400s and two Daytona 500s. Dale Earnhardt Jr. also won the February 2002 NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) race at Daytona driving a car fielded by RCR and Kevin Harvick won this year’s Busch Series opener at DIS in the AutoZone Chevrolet.

The Fast Way Around … While serving as Kevin Harvick’s crew chief at the 2002 Pepsi 400, Bowyer’s crew chief, Gil Martin, captured the pole after Harvick posted a fast lap of 48.638 seconds (185.041 mph).

07-07-07 … To commemorate July 7, 2007, Dave and Peggy Braaten of Forman, N.D., won the Jack Daniel’s Racing VIP Party sweepstakes including round-trip airfare, three nights lodging at the Plaza Resort in Daytona Beach and the opportunity to meet Bowyer along with team owner Richard Childress. The Braaten’s won by entering the sweepstakes online at JackDanielsracing.com.

Bowyer in the Loop …

Stats Facts … In three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series starts at the “World Center of Racing,” Bowyer has earned a pair of top-10 finishes. He was on his way to another solid run in this year’s Daytona 500 until he was collected in the famous last-lap melee and wound up taking the checkered flag sliding down the front straightaway on his roof.

A Steady Progression … Over the season’s first 17 races, Bowyer has earned one pole, one top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He has a 15.8 starting average and a 16.5 finishing average. The 28-year-old driver has completed 5,053 of 5,169 total laps contested (97.76 percent) and sits 11th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship point standings. Over the first 17 races last season, Bowyer had a 21.8 average start and a 20.1 average finish. He was 18th in points heading into the division’s second stop at Daytona last season. Before his disappointing 37th-place finish last weekend at New Hampshire, Bowyer had only finished outside the top 25 three times this year.

Speaking of Stats … Bowyer is ranked 14th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (16.995) and is the sport’s second 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 2.688 spots over the season’s first 17 races and has improved a total of 43 positions over the closing 10 percent of those same races. The Emporia, Kan., native has also logged 2,807 of the 5,169 laps completed this season (54.3 percent) in the top 15. He is 14th in the Driver Rating category (81.8). 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.

Double Duty at Daytona… In addition to his duties behind the wheel of the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevy, Bowyer will also race the No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in Friday’s NASCAR Busch Series race. The Winn Dixie 250 will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, July 6 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 19th race on the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 the same day beginning at 1 p.m. EDT.

Up to Speed … The Pepsi 400 from Daytona International Speedway will take the green flag Saturday, July 7 at 8 p.m. EDT. The race will be televised live on TNT beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT and broadcast from coast-to-coast on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 18th points-paying race on the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series schedule will be televised live on SPEED Friday, July 6 at 4 p.m. EDT.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
You ended up on your roof at Daytona in February. Obviously, you’re planning on a better result this time.
"Just slightly, but at least I still made it to the end. It always helps to finish a restrictor-plate race. That was a really good race car and unfortunately, we can’t bring it back. It's in the museum at RCR so we have to bring back a different car. That's too bad. Hopefully, we can get out of there with a good finish this time. Daytona has always been a good track for me and we run well there. Who knows, I can't think of a better place to get our first win than Daytona. The tough part about this whole thing is that everybody seems like they've been winning their first race this year and we still haven't gotten ours. I want to make this Chase; that's what this series is all about - being part of that Chase and having a chance to win the championship. But I want to win a race as well."

Do you develop a strategy heading into restrictor-plate races or are they more seat-of-your-pants type of races?
“You can run up front all race long but there’s always the “big one” and you have to avoid that if you want to finish. The biggest thing for us right now is to focus on consistency and keep finishing in the top 10 with the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet so we can be in the Chase. After what happened to us last week at New Hampshire, a top five would be even better.

Looking back on the Daytona 500, how frustrating is it to come off of turn four with what looks like an all but guaranteed top 10 only to wind up on your lid and finish 18th?
“That’s just Daytona and restrictor-plate racing in general. It was unbelievably frustrating. We were going to get out of there with a top 10 and a good race car. We weren’t going to win the race but we were going to get out of there with a good race car to take to Talladega, and then hopefully, to the Pepsi 400 but now it’s junk and sitting in the museum. That’s what’s so frustrating to me. The guys at the shop spend so many hours working on the speedway cars that it’s pretty hard to see all that work go up in smoke during the last 300 yards of the race. “