Race 2 Win: Sprint Cup Series Race Notes

Sprint Cup Series

Dodge Challenger 500 - Clint Bowyer Notes

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

Event/Date: Dodge Challenger 500 – May 10, 2008
Venue: Darlington Raceway – Darlington, S.C.

This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Darlington Raceway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 192 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS Bowyer raced to a third-place finish in March at Bristol Motor Speedway. Built new for 2007, this is the same car Bowyer raced eight times last season. Mr. Jack’s Crew unloaded this car in both races at Bristol last year (St. 18, Fn. 8 – St. 15, Fn. 3). Chassis No. 192 also saw action last spring at Martinsville (St. 21, Fn. 11) Phoenix (St. 12, Fn. 22), Darlington (St. 1, Fn. 9), twice at Dover (St. 15, Fn. 8 – St. 42, Fn. 12) and last July at New Hampshire (St. 20, Fn. 37). In eight races in 2007, this car recorded an 18th-place starting average and a 13.75 average finish. Over that same span, Bowyer recorded one pole, one top-five and four top-10 finishes.

Back in Black … After a three-race hiatus, Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevy returns to its traditional black and white Jack Daniel’s paint scheme this weekend at Darlington. Jack Daniel’s will be the primary sponsor on RCR’s No. 07 entry for the remainder of the 2008 schedule with the exception of Dover in June and Watkins Glen in August when DIRECTV will assume the primary sponsorship position.

Ring the Bell We Have a Winner … Bowyer recorded his second Sprint Cup career victory last Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. The 28-year-old driver started 31st and broke into the top five 141 laps from the checkered flag. He was third coming to the white flag and took over the lead when Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr., got together in turn three. Bowyer held off Busch during the green-white-checkered flag finish and earned career victory No. 88 from for team owner Richard Childress in NASCAR’s premier division.

Darlington Details … Bowyer is the defending pole sitter of Darlington’s 500-mile race. In two previous Sprint Cup Series starts at the famed “Track Too Tough Too Tame,” Bowyer has an impressive second-place starting average and a 16th-place average finish. He has completed 732 of the 734 total laps over those two starts and earned just shy of $200,000 at the newly-resurfaced egg-shaped South Carolina track. In four NASCAR Nationwide Series races, Bowyer has a fifth-place finish to call a career best.

Loop Data Highlights …

Percentage of Laps Run on the Lead Lap … According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Bowyer is scored fifth in the Percentage of Laps Run on the Lead Lap category and has raced on the lead lap for 3,041 of the 3,297 (92.24 percent) laps run this season.

Laps in the Top 15 …, Bowyer has spent 2,445 laps (74.42 percent) racing inside the top 15. That ranks him eighth among the 52 drivers graded by NASCAR.

Laps Led … Following last weekend’s win, Bowyer moved up one spot, to eighth in the Laps Led category after spending 150 laps (4.5 percent) on top of the scoreboard.

Average Running Position … Bowyer is ranked 11th in the Average Running Position category. His average position over the first 10 races is 14.009. That statistic is derived from the sum of his position on each lap divided by the number of laps run in each race.

Driver Rating … Meanwhile, the 28-year-old driver enjoys a 90.4 Driver Rating. 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.

2008 in Review … Since finishing no better than 19th in the season’s first three races, Bowyer and his Gil Martin-led crew have put together an impressive string of seven consecutive top-10 finishes to catapult themselves all the way from 24th to fourth in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings. In the last seven races, Bowyer has an impressive 5.7 finishing average. Since finishing 28th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he has earned one win, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

Fore the Hometown … On Tuesday, May 6, Bowyer will host the inaugural Clint Bowyer “Support Emporia” golf tournament and live auction at Emporia Municipal Golf Course in his hometown of Emporia, Kan. All proceeds will benefit the Emporia Community Foundation. The ECF is a collection of separate funds and resources given by caring citizens who have chosen to make their community a better place to work and live, now and in the future. The ECF is a tax-deductible charity and qualifies under the IRS rules governing 501(c)3 charity. The funds collected from the generosity of the community will go towards education, child programs, elder care and recreation in Emporia and surrounding areas.

Testing One, Two, Three, Testing … Bowyer and the Jack Daniel’s racing team tested at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Monday, May 5 in preparation for next weekend’s Sprint All-Star Challenge and the Coca-Cola 600 Memorial Day Weekend. This was the fifth of seven tests allowed under NASCAR’s 2008 testing policy. The remaining tests available to teams in NASCAR’s top division will are scheduled for Pocono Raceway (May 27-28) and at LMS (Sept. 23-24).

RCR at Darlington … Richard Childress is tied for third all time with Holman-Moody and the Wood Brothers for car owner victories at Darlington with eight - all of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Additionally, Childress boasts 21 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes at the egg-shaped South Carolina oval with five different drivers including Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Robby Gordon.

Keep on Rolling … Bowyer has been running at the end of every race dating back to Phoenix in November 2006, a streak of 47 races. The only other driver running at the end of more consecutive races is Bowyer’s RCR teammate Harvick who owns a streak of 54 events without a did not finish (DNF).

After the First 10 … In the season’s first 10 Sprint races, RCR-prepared cars have logged two wins, eight top-five and 18 top-10 finishes. At the same time, RCR cars have led 245 of the 3,297 laps contested this season (7.4 percent). Following Bowyer’s win last weekend in Richmond, all three RCR-prepared entries are in the top five in points. This is the first time since RCR began fielding three full-time teams that all three cars are in the top five in points.

Thanks Mom … In keeping with Darlington’s Mother’s Day Weekend tradition, Bowyer’s mother, Jana Bowyer, will be on hand to walk with her son across the driver’s introduction stage and to offer the most famous words in motorsports, but with a Darlington twist – “Sons and gentlemen, start your engines.”

Experience in Essential … Bowyer will appear at the Jack Daniel’s Experience Saturday, May 10 at 4 p.m. The Jack Daniel’s Experience is a 42-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 track’s display area outside the start/finish line and be open on Thursday from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Autographs may be available on a first come first serve basis and will be limited in number due to time constraints.

Double Down at Darlington … In addition to his duties behind the wheel of the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, Bowyer returns to the seat of the No. 2 BB&T Chevy Monte Carlo SS for this weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the “Lady in Black.” The Diamond Hill Plywood 200 from Darlington Raceway will take the green flag Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on ESPN2 and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 12th round of the 2008 Nationwide Series championship will be televised live on SPEED the same day at 3 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will air qualifying updates live.

Up to Speed … Flag to flag coverage of the Dodge Challenger 500 will be televised live on FOX Saturday, May 10 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be broadcast live on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Live television coverage of qualifying for the 11th race on the 2008 schedule will take the green flag Friday, May 9 at 5 p.m. EDT on SPEED. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide live qualifying updates.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
You won the pole last year. From a historic standpoint, that’s pretty cool.
“It was cool to get our first pole in the Cup Series at Darlington. We were fast all day in practice and we knew we were capable of it. When you know you’re capable and have that confidence and can go out there and back that all up, it’s pretty satisfying. Darlington is a special place and to be able to win a pole there is something to be proud of.”

That was your first pole. Did it come with a sense of relief?
“Qualifying is hard so I was very relieved to when we got that first pole. I grew up racing dirt and not on asphalt. I never had to qualify. We always started the heat race and away we went. I probably get more nervous when it comes time for qualifying - as a matter of fact, I know I’m more nervous when I go to qualify than before a race.”

Now that there’s a new surface, are all the notes the teams have gathered in the past worthless?
“We’ll look at the past but we’re have to go back and look at some of our bigger track stuff and kind of go from there. We’ll start there, work on our (shock) travels and ride heights, get those sorted out first and kind of go down the same path we go down every week. We’ll stick to our guns and if we do that, we’ll be just fine.”

Are you worried about the speeds at all? Darlington is such an old, narrow track. Are the speeds going to create any issues?
“It’s going to be fast but will be the same for everybody and it’s up to us to put a good package together and make the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet handle better than the rest.”

Is the margin of error going to be a little less than it was?
“We’ll see. At least before, you knew you were going to get in the corner and slip and slide around. I’d say running up high with tons of grip … we’ve seen that with new pavement at places like Charlotte and Las Vegas. You either have 100 percent grip or you have none. I think that’s going to be the case at Darlington. You won’t have the 50-foot run before you hit the wall. You’ll already be up there.”

Does walking into Darlington kind of feel like walking into a place like Wrigley Field?
“It really does. It’s fun. It starts with the tunnel coming into the infield. You have to pull your mirrors in on the truck to get through the tunnel and you’re worried about ripping the luggage rack off the roof. That’s what makes it cool. Places like Darlington are part of what our sport is. It’s what we’re all about. I think it’s very important to go there and I think everyone enjoys going to Darlington.”

Did you know there’s a new tunnel?
“It’s completely resurrected. They have new pavement and a new tunnel. They’ve made a lot of improvements to the place and added a lot of positives. I can’t wait to get down there and enjoy it all.”