Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Allstate 400 at the Brickyard - Clint Bowyer Notes

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

Event/Date: Allstate 400 at the Brickyard– July 29, 2007
Venue: Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Indianapolis

NOTES:

This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 170 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series stable. Built new for last year’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, Bowyer started second and went on to finish fourth in his first start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). This is also the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Bowyer raced to a 10th-place finish two weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway and to a sixth-place finish earlier this season at California Speedway. Additionally, Bowyer drove this car in March at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and was half-a-second faster than the leaders in the late goings until the car got away from him and suffered a 36th-place result. Bowyer also raced this No. 07 Chevy to a career-best third-place finish last fall at California. This car also saw action last August at Michigan (started 29th – finished 33rd), at Kansas (started sixth – finished ninth) in October at Texas (started 14th – finished fifth) and in the 2006 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (started 10th – finished 10th). Since March, the car has been outfitted with a new body and front and rear chassis clips.

Bowyer in the Loop …

Stats Facts … In his only NEXTEL Cup Series start at IMS, Bowyer started on the outside of row one, flanked by his teammate Jeff Burton on the pole position, and went on to record what was then a career-best fourth-place finish. He completed all 160 laps and earned just shy of $300,000.

A Steady Progression … Over the season’s first 19 races, Bowyer has earned one pole, one top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. He has a 15.2 starting average and a 15.6 finishing average. The 28-year-old driver has completed 5,480 of 5,596 total laps contested (97.93 percent) and sits 10th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship point standings. Heading into Indianapolis last season, Bowyer had a 23.1 average start, a 20.5 average finish and was 19th in points.

Speaking of Stats … Bowyer is the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series fourth-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 1.842 spots over the season’s first 19 races and has improved a total of 35 positions over the closing 10 percent of those same races. The Emporia, Kan., native has also logged 3,098 of the 5,596 laps completed this season (55.4 percent) running in the top 15. Bowyer is ranked 14th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (16.256) and is also 14th in the Driver Rating category (83.8). 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.

First Kiss … While serving as team manager for Kevin Harvick’s No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, Bowyer’s crew chief Gil Martin kissed the bricks following Harvick’s 2003 victory at IMS.

RCR at Indianapolis … In 13 previous NEXTEL Cup races at IMS, RCR has posted two poles (Harvick 2003, Burton 2006) two wins (Earnhardt 1995, Harvick 2003), eight top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. RCR cars have also completed every lap except one and have been running at the finish of every Allstate 400 at The Brickyard dating back to the inaugural race in 1994. Additionally, two RCR entries started on the front row at IMS last season when Jeff Burton won the pole and Bowyer qualified second.

Make it Four … Scott Wimmer will attempt to qualify for his first NEXTEL Cup Series race of the season this weekend IMS driving the No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, giving RCR four entries in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Wimmer was behind the wheel of the No. 33 at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November, where he started 24th and finished 12th.

Can’t Slow Down … On Tuesday, July 24, Bowyer and his NASCAR Busch Series BB&T racing team tested at Bristol Motor Speedway in preparation for next month’s Food City 250. On Wednesday, July 25, Bowyer will travel to Pevely, Mo., where he will participate in the M&M NASCAR Night of Stars at Ken Schrader’s I-55 Speedway. Bowyer, along with teammate Kevin Harvick, Schrader and several other NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series regulars, will be on hand to race U.M.P. Modifieds at the third-mile mile, high-banked oval.

Chevy Day at The Brickyard … Bowyer will participate in Chevy Day at the Brickyard Friday, July 27 from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. in the east lot of the Hall of Fame Museum in the speedway’s infield. The Emporia, Kan., native will provide media and Chevrolet consumers “hot laps” around the historic 2.5-mile race course. He will also sign autographs and race remote controlled cars. RCR president and CEO Richard Childress, along with Bowyer’s teammates Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Scott Wimmer will also be on hand for the morning’s activities.

Clint Bowyer Live … Bowyer will appear at the Chevy Stage for a question and answer session on Sunday, July 29 from 11-11:15 a.m. The Chevy Stage will be located in the east lot of the Hall of Fame Museum in the track’s infield.

Up to Speed … The 14th running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard from Indianapolis Motor Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, July 29 at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 1 p.m. EDT and broadcast worldwide on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 20th points-paying race on the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 Saturday, July 28 at 10 a.m. EDT.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
You started on the outside pole and finished fourth at Indianapolis last year. That had to be pretty exciting for a kid who grew up in the Midwest.
“Indianapolis is certainly one those race tracks that you always dream about racing at when you’re growing up. I’m pretty lucky that my first time out at Indy was a memorable experience. Starting on the front row was really cool. We missed what would have been our first pole by, I think, one thousandth of a second to my teammate Jeff Burton. It was pretty cool coming down the front straightaway to take the green flag for the first time with all those people on either side of you. It still gives me goose bumps when I think about it.”

Was there something about race day that really got to you?
“The biggest thing for me was just coming down to get the green and seeing that funnel of people. You can’t help but to pay attention. They’re on both sides of you as far as you can see and then you get all the way down into turn one and it looks like you’re going to run right into the grandstand because the corner is so tight it looks like the people are right there and it feels like your going to hit them head on.”

What do you have to do to get a stock car to handle at Indy?
“You have to get your car to turn across the center of the corner with a lot of grip and be able to get back to the throttle quick. The car has to be free. If you’re tight, you’re going backward in a hurry. Indianapolis is a big downforce track. You need big horsepower and have to be able to get through the corners. You can have all the motor in the world to get you down those long straightaways but the corners are tight and if you can’t get through the corners well, they’ll go right by you.”