ROUGH DAY FOR BOWYER, JACK DANIEL’S 
CHEVROLET AT POCONO

Race/Date: Pocono 500 – June 8, 2008 - Location: Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, Pa.
Start Position: 35th - Finish Position: 39th - Points Position: 11th (Fell Three Positions)

LONG POND, Pa. – It has often been said that bad luck comes in threes. If the old adage proves to be true, then Clint Bowyer and the Jack Daniel’s racing team should be headed for a quick turnaround after logging their third consecutive finish of 25th or worse on Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

While attempting to pass Paul Menard’s No. 15 Chevy on lap 81 of the 500-mile event, Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevy got loose in turn three and spun down the front straightaway. Juan Montoya had to nowhere to go and slammed the right-rear corner of Bowyer’s machine, sending the Emporia, Kan., driver hard into the inside retaining wall.

The damage was extensive enough to sideline the Jack Daniel’s Chevy for the next 45 laps but Bowyer’s Gil Martin-led team worked diligently to affect repairs and get their driver back on the track to salvage as many points as possible.

Despite finishing 45 laps down, Bowyer was still able to extend his streak of races without a DNF (did not finish) to 51 consecutive events. While the streak remained intact, the unfavorable outcome cost Bowyer three positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, dropping him from eighth to 11th.

Bowyer is 65 points ahead of two-time Sprint Cup champ Tony Stewart in 12th, just 29 behind Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick in 10th and 40 points behind race winner Kasey Kahne in ninth.

Bowyer tussled with a tight-handling Jack Daniel’s machine in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, turning in just the 35th best time of the day. The 54.024 second lap (166.593 mph) was only good enough for a starting spot on the outside of the 18th row for Sunday’s 500-miler. Kahne won the pole position after touring Pocono’s uniquely-configured, three-turn speedway in 52.873 seconds (170.219 mph).

Immediately following time trials, Bowyer boarded a helicopter bound for Wilkes Barre/Scranton Airport. After a quick ride, he jumped on his airplane and flew to Nashville to practice the BB&T Chevy in preparation for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.

Saturday morning, the two-time Sprint Cup Series winner found a comfort zone with his Jack Daniel’s Chevy and posted the 10th and 11th best times, respectively, in the weekend’s final practices.

After a pair of practices in Pocono, Bowyer headed back to Nashville where he qualified and finished fourth. At the same time, the six-time Nationwide Series winner extended his points lead on NASCAR’s junior circuit where he paces second-place David Reutimann by a 166-point margin.

After starting deep in the field for Sunday’s 200-lap event, Bowyer was quick to climb the leaderboard, despite monumentally difficult passing conditions, and moved up six positions to 30th before the first caution flag waved on lap 26.

Martin called his driver to the service lane two laps later for a fresh set of tires including air pressure adjustments to the right sides. Following sharp work on pit road, Bowyer moved up four spots for the ensuing restart and picked up a couple more over the next nine laps.

Back on pit road on lap 41, during the day’s second yellow flag, Martin called for just right-side tires, snaring his driver another four spots prior to the next restart as a result.

Over the next 14 laps, Bowyer earned another six spots, moving up to 14th before pitting for another pair of right-side tires during the fourth caution period. By now, he was up to ninth and informed Martin the car felt good.

With a rash of cautions, including one brief red flag for rain, consuming the opening 73 laps, different pit strategies were set into motion early on in the division’s first of two stops at the triangular-shaped speedway.

Bowyer stopped for another fresh set of tires immediately prior to the red flag, subsequently giving up his place in the running order. When the green flag flew again just after 4 p.m., the third-year Sprint Cup Series regular was back to 32nd but knew it wouldn’t be long before those in front of him would have to pit.

Unfortunately, the Jack Daniel’s Chevy got away from him before the team’s strategy could play out and Bowyer was left to finish out the 14th race of 2008 many laps down.

Kahne went on to earn his second points-paying and third overall, win of the season. Brian Vickers was second, Denny Hamlin was third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth. Bowyer’s RCR teammate Jeff Burton rounded out the top five and gained 121 markers on point leader Kyle Busch. Burton is now just 21 points out of the top spot. Harvick finished 13th.

Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the heart of the Midwest and Michigan’s picturesque Irish Hills.

The Lifelock 400 from Michigan International Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, June 15 at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on TNT beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 15th stop on the 2008 schedule will be telecast live on SPEED Friday, June 10 at 3 p.m. EDT MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide live qualifying updates.

• CLINT BOWYER QUOTES

“I screwed up getting off turn three. I tried passing the 15 (Menard) for three or four laps and I ended up getting a little too aggressive and just lost it. I put myself in a bad position and ended up paying for it. Gil and the guys did a great job getting the Jack Daniel’s Chevy back out on track and we were pretty darn fast after they got it fixed. There is no quit in this team. We’re going to Michigan next week to make up some points.”