BOWYER, JACK DANIEL'S CHEVY THIRD IN THUNDER VALLEY RCR - Trio Sweep Top Three

Race/Date: Food City 500 - March 16, 2008 Location: Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, Tenn. Start Position: Third Finish Position: Third Points Position: Ninth - Gained seven positions

Bristol, Tenn. - Clint Bowyer picked up the pace with a third-place finish in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Coming off a sixth-place finish two races ago in Atlanta that vaulted them from 23rd to 16th in points, Bowyer and the Jack Daniel's racing team set the bar even higher this week, jumping from 16th to ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship point standings.

On the heels of his first Nationwide Series win of 2008 the day before, Bowyer notched his first top-five finish of the season in NASCAR's premiere division.

Meanwhile, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) swept the top three positions in the annual spring 500-lapper in "Thunder Valley." Bowyer's teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick finished first and second marking the first time, in RCR's illustrious 40-year history, the Welcome, N.C.-based organization had its cars finish one-two-three in a Sprint Cup Series event.

Mother Nature hampered much of the weekend's on-track activities, including qualifying. Rain soaked the Bristol area on Friday forcing NASCAR to set the field according to the rule book. By rule, the field was set based on the final 2007 owner's points, affording Bowyer a starting spot on the inside of row two for Sunday's 500-lap event.

The green flag waved just before 2:30 p.m. local time and while Bowyer gave up one spot during the first lap, he was quick to make up lost ground. By lap seven he was back to third and second 10 laps in. Four laps later, Bowyer powered by defending champion Jimmie Johnson for the lead before heading to pit road on lap 53 during the day's first caution flag.

The Emporia, Kan., native informed crew chief Gil Martin the Jack Daniel's Chevy felt good and the no adjustments were necessary other than fresh tires and fuel. Following sub-13 second service by Mr. Jack's Crew, Bowyer returned to Bristol's concrete racing surface with the lead where he paced the field for the next 38 laps.

Caution was on the speedway again on lap 95 and Martin called Bowyer back to pit lane for service. As he was exiting pit road, he was held up by another car that didn't come up to speed on the service lane, ultimately costing the Jack Daniel's Chevy five positions.

Back under green, now in sixth, Bowyer got by Kyle Busch and Harvick over the next 89 laps but complained of a tight-handling condition getting back to the throttle during the 90-lap, green-flag run.

Bowyer was on pit road again for service under yellow-flag conditions on lap 192. Martin called for fresh tires, including air pressure and a chassis adjustments to help ease his driver's handling woes and after another solid pit stop, Bowyer was still fourth when racing resumed five circuits later.

Throughout the event's middle stages, the Jack Daniel's Chevy raced between fourth and sixth but Bowyer now mentioned a loose condition as the race approached its latter stages.

Martin remedied the problem over the course of the next two pit stops and, as the laps clicked off 16 seconds at a time, Bowyer maintained his ground in the top six before NASCAR displayed the caution flag 11 laps shy of the scheduled 500-lap distance for debris on the race track.

The 2007 championship contender made his final trip to the service lane for fresh tires one lap later and when the field came back up to speed with five to go, the black and white No. 07 machine was seventh on the scoring pylon.

When the leaders opted not to pit during the caution, fresh rubber proved to be king and Bowyer moved up to fourth before the day's final yellow flew on lap 499 when Harvick got together with Tony Stewart in turn two, setting up a green-white-checkered-flag finish.

The green waved for the last time on lap 504 but then-leader Denny Hamlin failed to come up to speed. Burton drove by the outside of Hamlin's No. 11 entry with Harvick and Bowyer in tow. When the checkered flag waved, the RCR trio was scored one, two, three in the final rundown.

Greg Biffle finished fourth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five.

Team owner Richard Childress now has all three of his cars in the top 10 in points. Harvick is third, 33 points behind leader Kyle Busch, Burton is fourth, four points behind Harvick and Bowyer is ninth, 176 markers out of the lead.

NASCAR's senior circuit enjoys a rare weekend off before heading to Martinsville, Va., in two weeks. Despite the hiatus for the Sprint Cup Series, Bowyer will see NASCAR Nationwide Series action in Nashville.

• CLINT BOWYER QUOTES 

"Man, I was hoping it would turn out like it did for RCR, all of us in the top three. I'm just really happy for everybody at RCR, they all work so hard. They deserve this. Gil (crew chief Gil Martin) made a good call during that last caution to come down for tires and it made all the difference in the world for the Jack Daniel's Chevrolet. That same call won the race for my teammate Jeff Burton. Kevin (teammate Kevin Harvick) and I both got in the wall during the green-white-checkered but it all worked out. It was a good day for us - a good points day and good big picture day. It was fun. We led it early, then kind of lost it in the pits, but it wasn't our fault. We got held up by another car leaving pit road and that's what cost us. Our Jack Daniel's Chevrolet was good. I am so proud of Gil and all the guys. To be able to win on Saturday and finish third today - what a great weekend."