Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

UAW-Ford 500 - Clint Bowyer Notes

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

NOTES:

This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 207 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR Cup Series stable. This is a brand new Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet handcrafted specifically for this weekend’s UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega.

Bowyer in the Loop … o Tale of the Tape … In three NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega, Bowyer has yet to finish better than 35th. The Emporia, Kan., native has a 29th-place starting average and an unexpected 36.7 average finish at the 2.66-mile Alabama speedway. In April, he was on the high side of a three-wide battle in turns three and four on lap 79, when he was forced into the outside wall which ultimately resulted in a flat tire. He spun out two laps later and made heavy contact with the turn three wall. Mr. Jack’s crew spent the next 40 laps in the garage area effecting repairs so Bowyer could finish the race. o What a Difference a Year Makes … Over the season’s first 29 races, Bowyer has recorded one win, two poles, four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. He has a 15.9 starting average and a 13.8 finishing average. He has completed 8,191 of 8,309 total laps contested (98.58 percent) and sits third in the NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings following his runner-up effort last weekend at Kansas Speedway. Heading into the division’s second stop at Talladega last season, Bowyer had a 20.4 starting average, a 19.1 average finish and was 16th in points. He had three top fives and just nine top 10s at this point last year. o Speaking of Stats … Bowyer is the NASCAR Cup Series’ sixth-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 1.207 spots over the season’s first 29 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 4,930 of the 8,309 laps completed this season (59.3 percent) running in the top 15. Bowyer is ranked 13th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (15.162) and is also 13th in the Driver Rating category (87.2). 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.

Testing One, Two, Three, Testing … All three of RCR’s Cup teams tested at Talladega September 10-11 in preparation for the division’s inaugural Car of Tomorrow restrictor-plate race this weekend. The Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS was consistently one of the fastest cars at the test during single car runs.

Preparation is the Key to Success … On Wednesday, Bowyer and the Jack Daniel’s racing team will test at Nashville Superspeedway in preparation for the remaining intermediate tracks (Charlotte, Atlanta, Texas and Homestead-Miami Speedway) on the 2007 schedule.

RCR at Talladega … Richard Childress competed as a driver in Talladega’s inaugural race in 1969 and used his winnings from that race weekend to help start RCR. Fittingly, he now holds the record as the car owner with the most success at the storied Alabama track, with nine victories to his organization’s credit, all of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Additionally, in 102 starts, RCR boasts four poles, 27 top-five, 44 top-10 finishes and just over $6.6 million in earnings.

Fan Day at RCR … RCR will host a special fan day on Friday, October 12 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. All RCR drivers, including Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Tim McCreadie and Scott Wimmer, along with team owner Richard Childress will be on hand to sign autographs beginning at 9:30 a.m. In addition to the autograph sessions, there will be museum tours, pit stop ride-a-longs, product discounts, food and live music. Fans should arrive early to get tickets for the autograph sessions and stay all day. Log on to www.rcrracing.com for directions to RCR and more information.

Plenty of Birthdays in October … Five members of Mr. Jack’s Crew celebrate birthdays this month. On Thursday, rear-tire changer Jake Lind turns 27. Engine builder Jon Richardson will be 50 on Saturday while scorer Tina Yocono turns 35 on Sunday. Car Foreman Andrew Mason will be 36 on October 10 and fabricator Wes Motsinger will celebrate his 27th birthday on October 16.

Up to Speed … The UAW Ford 500 from Talladega Superspeedway will be televised live on ABC on Sunday, October 7 beginning at 1 p.m. EDT. The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for round four in the Chase for the NASCAR Cup will be televised live on SPEED Saturday, October 6 at 1 p.m. EDT.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES

What are some of the dynamics of restrictor-plate racing with the new car? “You can hit each other more and it doesn’t effect you. You know the old cliché about being bumper-to-bumper? Well, you’re literally bumper-to-bumper with these cars. We’ll be pushing each other 10 rows deep touching nose to tail. If somebody wiggles, gets out of line or has to check up, that line is going to drive right through them and it’s going to cause a wreck.”

What was the biggest difference that you noticed at the test between this car and the traditional car? “The biggest thing that I noticed was that if you get shuffled out of the draft, it really drags you down. You’ll be looking down to see if the car blew up. It feels like you’re dragging the brakes. If you get out of that wake, you’re in big trouble.”

It seems like Talladega is going to be the one wild card of the 10 races in the Chase. “Everybody is worried about Talladega. It’s going to be a handful. You can get away with so much more in this car. You can push each other all the way around the race track. You have to lift in the corner and in the tri-oval to keep from running over the guy in front of you. You drag the brake a little bit on those areas and go right back to it on the straightaways. Obviously, if everyone can keep their heads it will be fine but I’ve got a feeling we’re going to struggle with that.”

How well did the test go? “We worked on single-car runs pretty much the whole time and with the exception of two runs, we made significant gains every time we went out. I’m really looking forward to it. The Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet was really fast by itself and I can’t help but to think that if it’s fast by itself, it’s going to be plenty fast in a pack of cars. Talladega hasn’t been a good one for me. I usually run good at Daytona and bomb out at Talladega so hopefully, we can reverse that this weekend. It’s definitely going to be an important race for us.”

Three races into the Chase you’ve scored more points than anyone else. As the 12th seed, what are your thoughts going into the fourth race? “It’s been very gratifying. I think everyone counted us out when the Chase started. We were the 12th seed and I think the majority of the media and the critics saw us as just that – the 12th seed – nothing more. It’s been very satisfying to be able to win a race and run up front these last three weeks. We’re becoming a better race team and I think we’ve proven that we belong here. I’m excited about how we’re running. I can’t wait to get to the race track. We’ve got a couple tracks coming up where we’ve struggled. We’ve never finished well at Talladega. We’ve run well but couldn’t get the finish we needed. Same goes for Charlotte. I can’t wait to get to both of those tracks and get those races behind us. If we can do what we’ve done everywhere else this season, we’ll be just fine. Right now, I don’t car if the critics believe in us or not. If we end up being lucky enough to hold that trophy at the end of the season, we’ll be the ones laughing.”