Bowyer, Mr. Jack’s Crew Bounce Back with Fourth-Place Finish at Infineon

Race/Date: Toyota/Save Mart 350 – June 22, 2008 - Location: Infineon Raceway – Sonoma, Calif. - Start Position: 19th - Finish Position: Fourth - 
Points Position: 10th (gained two positions)

SONOMA, Calif. – Dirt track oval racing may be Clint Bowyer’s background but he looked much more like a veteran road racer Sunday at Infineon Raceway as he wheeled his No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS to a fourth-place finish in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

The top-five finish halted a streak of less-than-desired results for Mr. Jack’s Crew and moved Bowyer up two spots, to 10th, in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. He is now 158 points out of fifth place and 32 points ahead of 12th.

The Jack Daniel’s Chevy was the 21st of 47 cars attempting to qualify Friday afternoon on Infineon’s technical 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course nestled in the hills at the southern tip of the Sonoma County winegrowing region. Bowyer’s lap of 78.606 seconds at an average speed of 91.138 mph was the 19th-quickest run of the session and allowed him to start Sunday’s 350-kilometer race from the inside of the 10th row.

Sunday was warm and sunny but nowhere near the hot temperatures of the previous two days in northern California. A near-capacity crowd filled the grandstands and hillsides to see 110 laps of racing during Infineon’s 40th season of racing. Bowyer picked up a couple of spots early and was running 11th when the first round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 25. A caution for debris on lap 30 provided the opportunity to bring the black-and-white No. 07 Chevy down pit lane to the attention of Mr. Jack’s Crew.

Back racing on lap 33, Bowyer began picking off the spots lost from those who had pitted before the caution flag waved. He was 16th by the race’s halfway point and maintained that position when he came down pit lane on lap 68 for another green-flag stop. Showing patience while still running hard, the Emporia, Kan., native moved into the top 10 on lap 84 and picked up another spot seven laps later.

The last few laps of a road race are usually full of activity as drivers jockey for position in the waning stages. The final laps at Infineon this year were just that. A big benefit to the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s team occurred with just a couple laps remaining when RCR teammate Kevin Harvick, while running fifth, lost control in the turn before the esses and took him and three other cars that were racing in front of Bowyer out of the competition for the win.

A red-flag halting competition was thrown to clean the track of debris and, when racing resumed for the green-white-checkered flag finish, Bowyer was sitting fifth. The car in the fourth position had a flat right-rear tire and Bowyer was able to get around him at the second turn after the restart before finally crossing the finish line fourth. It was his second consecutive fourth-place finish at Infineon.

Kyle Busch earned his fifth win of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. He was followed by David Gilliland, Jeff Gordon, Bowyer and Casey Mears. Bowyer’s RCR teammates Jeff Burton and Harvick finished 13th and 30th, respectively.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series next makes its first of two stops at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Coverage of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 will begin Sunday, June 29th at 12:30 p.m. EDT on TNT. The race will also be broadcast from coast-to-coast on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on SPEED Friday, June 27th at 3 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio carry qualifying updates live.

• CLINT BOWYER QUOTES

"It was a good day, just a good way to get things bounced back on the right track. We’ve been off a little in the last few weeks. I’m just really proud of Gil (Martin, crew chief) and all the guys on this Jack Daniels Chevrolet team for getting us back on track. That’s two fourth-place finishes for us here at Sonoma. I had a lot of fun out there. Patience prevailed at the end. It was pretty wild and it was slick. This was exactly what we needed. It is weird when you look at a road course -- and I am a guy that grew up with a dirt track background -- as the place for us to bounce back. This place has been good to us and it is good momentum going in to New Hampshire where we won our first race so we hope to continue that on."