Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sylvania 300 - Clint Bowyer Notes

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

Event/Date: Sylvania 300 – September 16, 2007
Venue: New Hampshire International Speedway – Loudon, N.H.

NOTES:

This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at New Hampshire International Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 212 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR Cup Series stable. Built new for 2007, this is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Bowyer raced to a 12th-place finish last weekend at Richmond International Raceway.

Round One … Bowyer makes his first appearance in NASCAR’s playoff format in just his second full season of Cup Series competition. Though winless, he earned two top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in the season’s opening 26 events. He’s seeded 12th heading into this weekend’s opening round of the Chase for the NASCAR Cup at New Hampshire International Speedway (NHIS). The 28-year-old driver is just 10 points out of sixth, 20 out of fourth, 30 out of third, 40 out of second and a mere 60 markers behind leader Jimmie Johnson. Bowyer in the Loop …
o New Hampshire News … In three Cup Series starts at NHIS, Bowyer has only a 24th-place finish to boast as a career-best in Cup Series action at the “Magic Mile.” Bowyer was running solidly in the top 15 at the Loudon, N.H., track when a freak incident on pit road cost him eight laps and jilted him with a 37th-place finish. The Emporia, Kan., native has yet to finish on the lead lap at NHIS and has an unexpected 29.3 average finish at the flat one-mile oval. On the flip side, Bowyer has one top five and two top 10s in three NASCAR Busch Series starts at NHIS.
o What a Difference a Year Makes … Over the season’s first 26 races, Bowyer has earned one pole, two top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. He has a 15.7 starting average and a 14.8 finishing average. The 28-year-old driver has completed 7,282 of 7,399 total laps contested (98.42 percent) and sits 12th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings after the top 12 in points were reset last weekend following the final race of the regular season. Heading into round two at Loudon last season, Bowyer had a 21.2 starting average, a 19.7 average finish and was 16th in points. He had three top fives and just seven top 10s at this point last year.
o Speaking of Stats … Bowyer is the NASCAR 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 1.27 spots over the season’s first 25 races and has improved a total of 33 positions over the closing 10 percent of those same races. The Emporia, Kan., native has also logged 4,263 of the 7,399 laps completed this season (57.6 percent) running in the top 15. Bowyer is ranked 13th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (15.826) and is also 14th in the Driver Rating category (84.4). 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 Chase for the NASCAR Cup 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 39 races.

Something For the Boss to Hang His Hat On … Following last weekend’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400, the Jack Daniel’s racing team sits 12th in the NASCAR Cup Series owner’s point standings. Prior to 2007, the highest the No. 07 Chevrolet (formerly the No. 30 Chevrolet) was listed in owner’s points with 10 races to go was last season when it was 16th after Richmond. In 2005, the No. 07 was 31st in owner’s points heading into New Hampshire; 26th in 2004, 32nd in 2003 and 17th in 2002.

Three for Three … For the first time since The Chase’s inception in 2004, all three of RCR’s fulltime NASCAR Cup Series teams have qualified for and will compete in the 2007 Chase for the NASCAR Cup.

Start Spreading the News … Bowyer, along with the rest of the drivers competing for the NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy, will be in New York on Wednesday and Thursday to have dinner with NASCAR Chairman Brian France and to visit select media outlets. All 12 drivers in The Chase will appear on the Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday. Bowyer is scheduled to be a guest on Fox and Friends and Sirius Satellite Radio Thursday morning and participate in a local media and fan question and answer session at the ESPN Zone on Broadway between 42nd and 43rd. Thursday afternoon Bowyer is also scheduled to appear on SportsNet New York’s Daily News Live.

RCR at NHIS … Richard Childress is tied for fifth all-time with Robert Yates for car owner victories at New Hampshire International Speedway with two – Robby Gordon (2001) and Kevin Harvick (2006). In 57 starts at the one-mile oval, Childress boasts one pole, nine top-five and 24 top-10 finishes with seven different drivers including Dale Earnhardt, Mike Skinner, Harvick, Gordon, Jeff Green, Steve Park, and Jeff Burton.

Testing One, Two, Three, Testing … All three of RCR’s Cup teams are testing at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Bowyer, along with teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, will log laps at the high-banked 2.66-mile superspeedway as they prepare for the division’s inaugural Car of Tomorrow restrictor-plate race on October 7.

Big Month for Birthdays … September is a big month for Mr. Jack’s Crew with four members of the team celebrating birthdays. Jackman Carey Wimbish will be 26 on Thursday and pit support specialist Wayne Harron celebrates his 34th birthday on Saturday. Crew Chief Gil Martin will be 47 on September 17 and mechanic Tommy Wallace turns 36 the same day.

Ever Been to Lynchburg … Bowyer will appear at the Jack Daniel’s Experience Sunday, September 16th from 10:20 – 10:35 a.m. The Jack Daniel’s Experience is a 53-foot tractor- trailer filled with artifacts, state-of-the art video monitors, sound system and graphics to give race fans a taste of Lynchburg and the Distillery. The Jack Daniel’s Experience will be located in the display area, outside the infield tunnel and will be open on Friday from 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., on Saturday from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. and on Sunday from 7 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Truck Driving Man … In addition to his duties in the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, Bowyer will also race the Kevin Harvick Inc.-owned No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet Silverado in the New England 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race on Saturday, September 15. In five previous NCTS starts, Bowyer has one win, two top-five and three top-10 finishes. In his most recent NCTS race driving for KHI, Bowyer started second and finished 34th in the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway after getting caught up in an early race incident with Mike Skinner. The New England 200 will be televised on live on SPEED Saturday, September 15 beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Catch the Action … Live coverage of the Sylvania 300 from New Hampshire International Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, September 16 at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will be televised on ABC and broadcast worldwide on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for round one of NASCAR’s 10-race playoffs will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, September 14 at 3 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide live qualifying updates.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
Can this team win the Championship?
‘I think so. I think I’m with the right team. I’m with the right organization. Certainly, Richard (team owner Richard Childress) knows how to win championships. Gil (crew chief Gil Martin) and everyone on the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet – we just keep getting better and better. Even if we don’t win it this year, we’ll be a force to be reckoned with over the next two or three years.”

How does it feel to make The Chase for the first time?
“It’s very gratifying. Everyone at our organization works so hard. It’s a total team effort to have all three cars in The Chase and I’m very proud to be part of it. But, I want to win a race for Richard. That’s what I set out to do and that’s what he pays me to do. He did me a pretty big favor three or four years ago when he hired me and I want to repay him.”

How do you approach The Chase?
“Obviously, you have to watch your back and you can’t have DNFs (did not finish) and win championships. We have to win races. We’re still learning and we have to learn something every week that we can apply to the next week to make us better. We need to race hard and do everything we can to get to Victory Lane. That’s what it’s all about – winning.”

Are there any particular race tracks that concern you over the last 10 races?
“That’s the thing that excites me the most about The Chase. I’m the most comfortable with these race tracks that we’re coming up on. Those were some of our better tracks at the end of last year. Loudon, Texas, Atlanta – all of those places are good tracks for me. You can’t forget about my home track in Kansas. I’m excited about all of them, especially the next two or three.”