Race 2 Win: Sprint Cup Series Race Notes

Sprint Cup Series

Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 - Clint Bowyer Notes

Clint Bowyer
No. 07 BB&T Chevrolet Impala SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Crown Royal 400 – May 3, 2008
Venue: Richmond International Raceway – Richmond, Va.

NOTES:

This Week’s BB&T Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 212 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is the same car Bowyer raced to a runner-up finish April 12 at Phoenix International Raceway. Built new for 2007, this No. 07 Chevrolet Impala SS sat on the pole and won last September at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Additionally, the third-year Sprint Cup Series driver raced this car to a 12th-place finish last September at Richmond and an 11th-place showing last November at Phoenix.

From Blue to Burgundy … After showcasing a DIRECTV paint scheme last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevy will be wrapped in burgundy and gold BB&T colors this weekend in Richmond. Jack Daniel’s, Bowyer’s mainstay primary sponsor, will be featured on the car’s lower-rear quarter panels and deck lid. BB&T is the primary sponsor of Bowyer’s No. 2 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. BB&T Corporation, headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., is a fast growing, highly profitable financial holding company. Its bank subsidiaries operate more than 1,500 financial centers in the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Indiana and Washington, D.C. Building on a tradition of excellence in community banking that stretches back to 1872, BB&T continues to offer clients a complete range of financial services including banking, lending, insurance, trust, wealth management and capital markets solutions. BB&T’s operating strategy distinguishes it from other financial holding companies. BB&T’s banking subsidiaries are organized as a group of community banks, each with a regional president, which allows decisions to be made locally, close to the client. This also makes BB&T’s client service more responsive, reliable and empathetic.

The Richmond Report … In four Sprint Cup Series starts at Richmond’s three-quarter mile oval, Bowyer boasts an impressive 10.8 finishing average. The Emporia, Kan., driver has two top 10s, a pair of 12th-place finishes and has completed all 1,600 laps over those four starts at the “Action Track.”

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 in the top 15 for 2,631 of the 2,887 (91.13 percent) laps run this season.

Laps in the Top 15 …, Bowyer has spent 2,107 laps (73 percent) racing inside the top 15. That ranks him seventh among the 52 drivers graded by NASCAR.

Laps Led … Bowyer is ninth in the Laps Led category after spending 137 laps (4.7 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 nine NSCS races is 14.523. 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 an 88.1 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.

A Tale of Talladega … Last weekend at Talladega, Bowyer started 41st and finished ninth. The 28-year old driver stayed out of trouble all day and recorded his career-best Sprint Cup Series finish at the 2.66-mile Alabama oval.

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 six consecutive top-10 finishes to catapult themselves all the way from 24th to seventh in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings. In the last six races, Bowyer has an impressive 6.6 finishing average. Since finishing 28th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he has earned a pair of top fives and six top-10 finishes.

Keep on Rolling … Bowyer has been running at the end of every race dating back to Phoenix in November 2006, a streak of 46 races. The only other driver running at the end of more consecutive races is Bowyer’s RCR teammate Kevin Harvick who owns a streak of 53 events without a did not finish (DNF). After the First Nine … In the season’s first nine NSCS races, RCR-prepared cars have logged one win, seven top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. At the same time, RCR cars have led 232 of the 2,887 laps contested this season (8.03 percent). All three RCR cars are in the top 10 in points (Jeff Burton first, Harvick sixth, Bowyer seventh).

RCR at RIR … Richard Childress is tied for fifth with Robert Yates for car owner victories at Richmond with six – five with Dale Earnhardt and the most recent coming two seasons ago with Harvick. Additionally, in 101 starts at RIR, RCR boasts 28 top-five and 46 top-10 finishes at the three-quarter mile Virginia oval with nine different drivers including Earnhardt, Bowyer, Burton, Jeff Green, Robby Gordon, Harvick, Ricky Rudd and Mike Skinner. Childress, a former driver on NASCAR’s senior circuit, contributed three of those top 10s from 1976-1978.

Carry Me Back to Old Virginia … Three members of RCR’s No. 07 team hail from the Old Dominion State. Mechanic and rear-tire changer for RCR’s No. 29 Nationwide Series entry Tommy Wallace calls Richmond his hometown. Transporter driver Barry Sheppard was born and still resides in Stuart and tire specialist Charles Moles is from Floyd – approximately 230 mile west of Richmond.

Make if Four … Scott Wimmer will attempt to qualify for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season this weekend at Richmond driving the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Impala SS, giving RCR four entries in the Crown Royal 400. Wimmer’s most recent Cup start came last July at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he started 21st. Unfortunately, contact with another car on pit road ultimately left the Wausau, Wis., native with a 31st-place finish.

Rolling In Richmond … In addition to his duties behind the wheel of the No. 07 BB&T Chevrolet Impala SS, Bowyer returns to the seat of the No. 2 BB&T Chevy Monte Carlo SS for this weekend’s Lipton Tea 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Live coverage of the 11th of 35 races on the 2008 Nationwide Series schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, May 2 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised the same day on SPEED beginning at 4 p.m. EDT. Despite finishing 25th last weekend at Talladega, Bowyer maintains the Nationwide Series points lead. He paces second place Carl Edwards by 27 points and holds a 39-point advantage over Kyle Busch in third. Bowyer is the defending race winner.

Catch the Action … Live coverage of the Crown Royal 400 from Richmond International Raceway will take the green flag Saturday, May 3 beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. The race will be televised live on FOX and broadcast worldwide on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 10th stop on the 36-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will be televised live on SPEED Friday, May 2 at 5:30 EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide qualifying updates live.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
You’ve been pretty consistent at Richmond. You finished ninth and 12th last season. Can you start running consistently in the top five?
“I hope we can. Richmond is one of my favorite race tracks. We won a Nationwide race there last year so I’m really looking forward to getting back there. I felt like we had a car that was capable of winning last fall. It was the last race before the Chase started and I got a little greedy and spun out going for the lead. We’ve always had strong cars at Richmond. We need to work on our consistency. We’ve had the speed at Richmond. We’ve had the good runs. We just need to be a little more consistent. It’s a good track for the BB&T team so I’m looking forward to it.”

Is Richmond the perfect race track?
“I think Richmond is the perfect race track. I think it’s the perfect size. The track races well and it puts on a good show for the fans. It’s night racing and that’s what we all grew up doing. Everything about it is good.”