Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Centurion Boats at the Glen - Clint Bowyer Notes

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

Event/Date: Centurion Boats at The Glen – August 12, 2007
Venue: Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, N.Y.

This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Watkins Glen International … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 194 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS Bowyer raced to a fourth-place finish in June at Infineon Raceway. Additionally, this car also saw action at Richmond International Raceway (St. 20 – Fn. 9) in May. Since Richmond, the car has been fitted with a new front chassis clip to make it suitable for road course racing.

Bowyer in the Loop …
Not Bad for a Dirt Racer … In three NEXTEL Cup Series road races, Bowyer has completed 100 percent of the laps and has a solid 11.3 finishing average. In four NASCAR Busch Series road races, including Mexico City and Watkins Glen, the Emporia, Kan., native has also completed every lap of competition and put up a strong 13.5 average finish. Not bad for a driver who hadn’t logged a single lap on a road course prior to 2005. Bowyer’s lone top five of 2007 came at Infineon Raceway in June.
What a Difference a Year Makes … Over the season’s first 21 races, Bowyer has earned one pole, one top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. He has a 15.7 starting average and a 15.1 finishing average. The 28-year-old driver has completed 5,840 of 5,956 total laps contested (98.05 percent) and sits 10th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship point standings. Heading into Watkins Glen last season, Bowyer had a 22nd-place average start, a 19.7 average finish and was 17th in points.
Speaking of Stats … Bowyer is the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series fifth-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 1.47 spots over the season’s first 21 races and has improved a total of 31 positions over the closing 10 percent of those same races. The Emporia, Kan., native has also logged 3,323 of the 5,956 laps completed this season (55.8 percent) running in the top 15. Bowyer is ranked 14th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (16.138) and is also 15th in the Driver Rating category (83.9). 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 Keepin’ On … Bowyer has been running at the finish of all 21 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races this season. Bowyer, teammate Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are the only three drivers in the top 10 in points to have no DNFs (did not finish) in 2007.

Black Hills Rally … Bowyer, along with team owner Richard Childress, flew directly from last week’s race at Pocono Raceway to Sturgis, S.D., for the 67th-annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the Black Hills. Bowyer and Childress will return to North Carolina on Wednesday evening before heading to Watkins Glen.

RCR at the Glen … In 36 starts at Watkins Glen International, RCR boasts two wins (Harvick 2006 and Robby Gordon 2003), eight top-five and 16 top-10 finishes with seven different drivers. Additionally, Dale Earnhardt won the pole three times (1990, ’92, ’96) at the high-speed, 11-turn central New York circuit.

Getting’ Ready for the Glen … Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick tested at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) July 31 in preparation for this weekend’s Centurion Boats at the Glen. The information gathered at the test will be utilized by all three of RCR’s NEXTEL Cup Series teams.

Couple of Birthdays this week … Cameron Brown, engine tuner for the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, turns 23 on Wednesday, August 8. Barry Sheppard, driver of the Jack Daniel’s racing team’s transporter, will celebrate his 49th birthday on Sunday.

Up to Speed … The Centurion Boats at the Glen from Watkins Glen International will take the green flag Sunday, August 12 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 Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 22nd race on the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, August 10 at 3 p.m. EDT.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
You finished fourth at Infineon which was not only your first top five of the season but your first top five at a road course. How do you feel about road racing now and what are your thought’s heading into Watkins Glen?
“I don’t think they’ll be calling me Jacques Bouvier anytime soon but nonetheless, a fourth-place finish at Infineon was a good effort and a testament to how good my team is. They brought a fairly inexperienced road racer and finished fourth with him. Watkins Glen is going to be a struggle. That’s a race that is definitely weighing on me. That’s a track where I’ve struggled in the past. I’m not necessarily a big fan of Watkins Glen but you have to go to places like that with a goal in mind and just try and get better. Of course, when you go to tracks where you’re good, you can’t wait to get there. But, good drivers anticipate going to their worst track and try to improve upon what they’ve done in the past.”

Watkins Glen is less technical than Infineon and certainly a higher-speed race track. Do you have a preference between the two?
“I think Infineon is more technical than Watkins Glen. It’s tighter and very line sensitive. Watkins Glen is just really, really fast and wide-open and out of control. Usually, that would fit my driving style. That’s usually the way I like to be. For whatever reason, I struggle getting around Watkins Glen but I still managed to finish 14th in the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet last year. The good thing is I have an experienced crew chief with Gil Martin who can make some pit road strategy calls and get us in position for a decent finish. If we can get out of Watkins Glen with a top 15, I’ll be happy with that.”