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News and Results | Point Standings | 2007 Schedule | 2007 Teams | 2006 Schedule and Results | 2005 Schedule and Results LifeLock 400 - Chevrolet Post-Race Quotes Clint Bowyer Finishes Second To Lead Six Team Chevy Drivers to Top-10 Finishes in Wild LifeLock 400 Jimmie Johnson Retakes Lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Championship with Third Place Finish at Kansas Kansas City, Kan - Kansas native and Team Chevy driver Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Monte Carlo SS, finished second in what can only be described as one of the wildest races the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (NNCS) in quite some time. The runner-up spot was the fourth top-five and 14th top-10 finish for Bowyer, who jumped to third in the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings, only 14 points behind the leader. Bowyer, who started 10th, was running second when the caution flag flew for the 12th and final time on lap 208 of the LifeLock 400 at Kansas Speedway. The field was frozen at that point but continued until lap 210 when the checkered flew due to darkness. Greg Biffle was the race winner. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Monte Carlo SS, finished third in the race which was stopped twice by red flags due to storms, and eventually shortened by 57 laps. He was 24th in the order when the race restarted after the second weather delay and stormed his way to the field to capture his sixth top-five and 18th top-10 of the year. Johnson, the defending NNCS champion, resumed the top spot in the standings of the Chase for the Nextel Cup by six points over Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) teammate Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS, who finished fifth at Kansas. Fellow HMS driver Casey Mears, No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Monte Carlo SS, finished fourth. He continues his battle for the 13th spot in the year-end standings and now sits 15th. Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Monte Carlo SS and Bowyer's Richard Childress Racing teammate, finished sixth in the race and climbed four spots in the Chase standings to fifth. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Monte Carlo SS, finished 10th giving Team Chevy Monte Carlo SS drivers six of the top-10 finishers. Other Team Chevy drivers in the Chase suffered setbacks in today's race that could be seen as the "Wild Card" in this year's Chase. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Monte Carlo SS, finished 29th after a multi-car crash on lap 183. Hamlin remains 12th in the standings with seven races remaining in the 2007 season. Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Monte Carlo SS, was credited with the 39th finishing position as a result of damage received on lap 174 after leading three times for 13 laps. The two-time NNCS champion dropped to fourth in the standings, 117 laps down to Johnson. Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Monte Carlo SS, lost a fuel pump early in the race and finished 36th after spending several laps in the garage while the crew exchanged the faulty part. He now sits 10th in the standings, dropping two positions. Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Monte Carlo SS, was involved in an accident on lap 29. After spending 47 laps in the garage getting repairs, he returned to the race however, the finish dropped him two positions in the standings to sixth. Martin Truex, Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Monte Carlo SS, was also an accident victim finishing 38th today and dropped one spot in the points to eighth position. Team Chevy heads to Talladega Superspeedway on October 7, 2007 for round four of the Chase and the 31st race of the season. POST RACE QUOTES:
"What a turn of events. Man, what a crazy race it was today. At one time we were really strong and we fell back a little bit and we fell way back, all the way to 30th, and I saw the rain and to be able to bring this DuPont Chevrolet from that far back, one lap down, to get our lap back and then to come up there all the way to a top five. I couldn't be happier. What a great job. "We had to make some adjustments on the car there and they really paid off, not just the four tires, and we were able to really slice our way through traffic there at the end. It was awesome." HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO KEEP FOCUSED OUT THERE WITH TWO RAIN DELAYS AND ALL THE CAUTIONS AND BEING IN THE CHASE? "Well when you have this type of an avid fan base, and the people at home that watch and the ones that stayed here, it fires you up as a race car driver. You want to go out there and do your job and put on a great show. To me, we weren't going to leave and lose our focus unless the fans did. They brought it back to all of us. I'm just glad we put on a pretty solid race there. Unfortunately it didn't go all the way to the end, but it was still a great race." ON GOING BACK TO RACING AFTER THE LONG RACE DELAY: "I think that was an awesome call. I think NASCAR recognized what is going on in the Chase and what a disaster that was going to be. I think that as long as there is daylight, they are going to race. I am sure there are some guys that disagree with that, but because of the wreck and some of the things that happened, from hey, from where I was sitting, there was only one call and that was to go back racing. Certainly, we are glad that they did. "I want the No. 16 to win for points reasons, I don't want the No. 07 to win because of that but, let me tell you what, he didn't win the race. You have to maintain speed, we know that, he slowed down; we don't know he was out of gas. Clint Bowyer is the winner of this race in my opinion, no offense to Greg Biffle, he drove the car to the win, but you have to cross the start/finish line at pace car speed at least. ON WHAT ARE THE RULES AS HE KNOWS IT: "They don't freeze the field. You have to maintain a reasonable pace. And that is in NASCAR's judgment if that was a reasonable pace. Everybody was slowing down trying to figure out what he was doing. We were almost at a stop to run his pace and the pace car was driving away so we all just started going by him. In my opinion, he didn't win that race. Clint Bowyer won the race. "He is the one who maintained the pace. I say that knowing want him to win because of the points, no offense to Clint, I like him. It is all the Chase and the championship. I don't want to give up those points." "If I were Clint, I wouldn't put too much fight up, I would let NASCAR make the decision. I definitely would argue it and give them my point. And see where they went with it from there."
FROM A DARKNESS STANDPOINT, DID NASCAR MAKE THE RIGHT CALL? "Without a doubt. It was really tough to see out there. The biggest question mark right now is what goes on with the No. 16 (Biffle) car. He clearly ran out of gas and I feel terrible for those guys. He had the car to beat and was up front. But if you can't maintain pace car speed, then the guys that can finished ahead of you, it just depends on where you crossed the start/finish line. And I'm being all about me right now in order to be second (laughs). "He was clearly out of gas. I feel terrible for Greg (Biffle). He's been working so hard to win a race and he was up there in position to win it. But if you don't maintain pace car speed, you don't hold your position. And it was clear to everyone that he couldn't do it. If he could have, he would have stayed on the bumper of the pace car to the finish line. So in my opinion, where he coasted across the finish line relative to the other cars that could maintain pit road speed is where it should finish." AND THEREFORE, THAT WOULD PUT YOU SECOND INSTEAD OF THIRD SINCE THE 07, BOWYER, WAS IN FRONT OF YOU? "It would. I'm all about me right now (laughs). It is more points. From where we were before that rain came down to where we are now, we had a great car, but we had some troubles throughout the day. We had a strong enough car where I could race my way up. I can't thank the engine and chassis shops at Hendrick Motorsports and these guys on the No. 48 team. I've run them through a lot of hard work this weekend. And we rebounded nicely." HOW ABOUT YOUR CAR TODAY? YOU STARTED 43RD AND RAN ALL THE WAY UP TO THIRD. "Yeah, we had a really good race car. We were in the back a few times. We got caught a lap down with the rain when it came. All in all, we had a great car and I feel very good about second or third, wherever we end up."
"That was a really good run for us. We were very, very tight at the beginning of the race and the guys and everybody on this team just hung in there and did a good job. They stuck it out and we came home with a great finish. Nobody on this team ever gave up. We were running 30th or 25th there at the end and we made a lot of huge adjustments to try and free the car up and got it to where it was competitive there at the end. Real happy with that. "I had to run with my visor up those last few laps. I had a tinted visor on. I couldn't see at all that last five ten laps, I just had to turn my visor up and then I could see pretty good. Obviously it got dark quick, so it definitely was the way to call the race. "The momentum of our team has just been great. The last ten races, excluding Dover, we have had a couple top-fives, and a top-ten before that. We have just been really consistent; the guys did a great job and made a lot of great adjustments today. I am proud of them, we came back and had a good finish."
"I don't know where we finished. I thought you had to finish under your own power across the finish line. We maintained the pace car speed. I don't know what the deal is. The bottom line is the Jack Daniel's Chevrolet was good and we had a lot of fun today. "On that restart, I definitely think we could have gotten closer to him. The No. 48 and No. 24 were coming behind us. But definitely, I think we had something for him if we would have went back green. "It was almost perfect today. Just very, very weird day all together. To win a race and not be able to go to victory lane I thought that was weird. I don't know what is going on. You want to win when you come back to your hometown. It's been a long day. It's been pretty wild. The radio quit there at the end and it's just been wild. "I told the guys just before that last caution that it was getting hard to see. It was dark out there; I think we had something for the No. 16 on a restart. He was really tight up off, and kept getting in the wall a couple times in front of me. I know the No. 48 and No. 24 were behind us on new tires and were catching but I think I at least had something for the No. 16. "This team is strong and we are just starting to show our potential. I think over the years to come, we are going to have a lot more fun. It was a wild day with two rain delays, and then there at the end. What a crazy day. ON WHAT HE KNOWS RULES TO BE: "I don't know, but it didn't look right. I don't know what the rule is. It is just weird, very weird. IT DOES SOUND LIKE YOU ARE QUESTIONING THE FINISH: "Well, it's kind of weird he couldn't make it across the finish line. I don't think anybody knows. I don't think Jimmie (Johnson) or Jeff (Gordon) or anybody behind me knew either. I don't know what's going on."
"It's our first top-20 finish in awhile, so we have to look at that as a positive. The car was way too tight for most of the day, but that 's something we've dealt with for most of the year with this car." RACE AND RAIN DELAY QUOTES
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE WITH DALE JUNIOR? "I don't know. You'll have to ask him. I just gave him a lane to try to let him go on the outside because I knew he was going to have a run off the corner. And I got run into the back of and got spun out down the back straightaway for absolutely no reason. And it was a pretty stupid move on his part. Obviously I'm sure these guys he's going to be working with next year don't really appreciate this because they've got a championship they can win this year and he doesn't. So, I don't know what he was thinking, really, or what the problem was but this is very, very unfortunate for all these Kellogg's / CARQUEST boys and the guys do such a great job. We had an awesome car. I thought it was going to be a car that was going to give me a top three, definitely, if not, maybe the winning car. I was just cruising there, riding around, minding my own business on the bottom and just got run over." YOU'VE COME FROM BEHIND BEFORE IN THE CHASE. HOW WILL YOU OVERCOME THIS? "Yeah, right. We'll have to see. You know, last year, we didn't come back. We only got to 10th and ran 10th. So we were running pretty good so far and we've had two good races now. It's a little bit later than where we have our trouble so hopefully we can get back on track." THAT WAS A BIG HIT, ARE YOU OKAY? "Oh yeah, I'm fine. It was nothing." MORE ON WHAT HAPPENED: "Racing around, minding our own business. Had a pretty cool Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet, actually it was really good as a matter of fact. Thought it might have been a top-three or top-five car. Just minding our own business. I left a lane for him (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) on the outside because I knew he was going to have a good run coming off the corner. He ran me over for no reason whatsoever. Just an unfortunate circumstance and I am sure these guys (No. 5 crew) aren't very appreciative of the guy who is going to be racing for them next year just dumped their car that has a great shot for the championship where he doesn't. It is unfortunate for them and myself and everyone on this team." ON WHERE IT PUTS HIM AND THE TEAM IN THE CHASE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP: "Who cares. It is three in. we still have seven more to go. We are going to have to make it up. We had a top-three car today; that is the point. We aren't going to get a top-three finish."
"This team has worked hard this weekend. We've had a pretty good car since we unloaded. We've had a really good car today. Track position means so much. We need that clean air out front on old tires. We made some adjustments. We were pretty good. I hope I don't have to make any more adjustments today other than getting dry clothes." HOW MUCH FUEL DID YOU HAVE LEFT WHEN THEY STOPPED THE RACE? "We got three or four more laps left. If we have to fire back up and go, we've got plenty to come back in and get our tires and start this thing over. We just hope it don't happen."
"We were working on our car really hard. We had taken every opportunity we could to get down pit road and work on our car because we didn't like the way it handled. That last run right there, the car had gotten a lot better and we were actually running as good as anybody else. We did have the cushion and that helped us get this position that we have now. It looks pretty bad right now as far as the rains. I don't think we're going to get going again. We've had a pretty eventful race. "We put the No. 5 (Kyle Busch) car out. That was an accident. I want to apologize to his fans and their team and Kyle. That was a bad mistake on my part." WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE SITUATION WITH KYLE BUSCH? "I just run into the back of him. We were coming off the corner and I was running the high side. I thought for a second there that he was going to give me the bottom. A lot of guys will still run the bottom down the straightaway if they know you're running the top. For a second there, it looked like he was. And then he just moved up and I got into him. I should have been able to get out of the car and I was screaming as I was going by for him to save it, but he couldn't gather it up. It was my fault." ON THE HANDLING OF HIS CAR: "Tight. We've been real, real tight. It's been real frustrating. But we've been working real hard trying to get it to work and we're trying to do the best we can with it. Tony (Eury) Jr. and them guys have been really making all the changes they can make trying to get the car to work better. And we had finally started to make some gain on it until the rain came."
"We had a lot of bad luck today, everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong did. It sucked. We were working our way back up through the field then pitted, then it rained so not a good finish, bad on the points. 32nd in pretty bad in my book."
"We have a pretty good car and moving up through the field after the penalty for speeding. It's just unfortunate because we were running strong. So if this thing is over here, it will be a good finish and a good points day. "Obviously I want to be racing for a win, especially here, but we have to be smart. But it has been a tough day and my guys worked hard on pit road. Made lots of good calls on pit road."
ON ALMOST RUNNING OUT OF FUEL: "We didn't have much left, but we had enough. I hate to say this because of the fans here, but I hope it rains like this the rest of the day. We need these points right now." IF WE RESTART, WHO IS TOUGH COMPETITION OUT THERE? "Obviously, the No. 2 car, he is the one we have been racing. Jimmie keeps getting his better. I am really proud of our guys, we have done a great job this weekend, Zippy and all the guys to give us a car that is drivable. We will just keep our fingers crossed right now."
"The car was a little bit tight, center of the corner and off early. We made some small adjustments to the car and it came to life. Jimmie is pretty happy with the car. It may not have enough speed in it to win the race, but I feel like we have a top-five car. "I feel like we are a little bit off of the No. 2 car (Kurt Busch) and maybe a little off the No. 20 (Tony Stewart). But if we get this thing underway again, no telling what is going to happen. All I know right now is that we are going to have to get that lap back and motor our way back up through there." LiveLock 400 Post Race Press Conference Transcript Highlights
CLINT BOWYER, NO. 07 JACK DANIELS MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 2nd Post Race Press Conference included discussion about Greg Biffle's race win and being out of fuel, the rain delays and number of wrecks, the points, on the crazy races of Dover and Kansas prior to going to Talladega, on racing in Bowyer's hometown, NASCAR's decision to restart the race after the second rain delay, the strategy for the second half of the race, on Chase strategy, on the track visibility due to darkness at the end of the race, and the value of bonus points entering the Chase. ON THE DAY:
JOHNSON: "It was just a long, long day. The one thing that we had was a great race car and I was able to really work through traffic and get up into the top five. I never spent enough time up at the front to get an adjustment or two or a few pit stops to make my car right for running up front. But we certainly had the right car for traffic and I could make quick work of a lot of guys. I'd get up into the top five, but when you get up into the top five, it's so much more difficult. Those guys are up there fine-tuning and they are the best cars on the track. I didn't get enough time up there to make it right."
COULD YOU TELL US YOUR DEFINITION OF MAINTAINING PACE CAR SPEED WHEN YOU'RE THE LEADER AND YOUR BELIEF THAT GREG BIFFLE WAS OUT OF FUEL?
ON THE DAY:
BOWYER: "What a crazy day. I think I had something for the No. 16, but I was afraid you (Johnson) might have something for us (laughter). So I darn sure didn't want you to win from dead last (laughs). Ah, all in all, it was a good day. For two rain delays and a lot of Chase guys ended up getting in trouble it was definitely a different night. We can call it a night now. But Jimmie and myself and Jeff Gordon and everybody; I don't know exactly what the rule is but I thought you had to at least be able to maintain a caution pace and he (Biffle) failed to do that. But I ain't going to whine about it. We ran good. You want to come back and win here and hopefully some day we will."
HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE THIS RACE?
YOU WERE IN 4TH PLACE WHEN THE SECOND RAIN DELAY HAPPENED. GIVEN YOUR STANDING IN THE CHASE, HOW MUCH DID IT MATTER TO YOU THAT NASCAR TRIED TO RESUME THE RACE?
IF YOU CROSSED THE FINISH LINE FIRST, HOW DID YOU NOT WIN THE RACE?
HOW DARK WAS IT THERE AT THE END? WAS VISABILITY A FACTOR
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