Clint Bowyer - No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS

Event Preview Fact Sheet - Event/Date: Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola – July 5, 2008 - Venue: Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.

* This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 233 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Built new for 2008, this is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS Bowyer raced at the season-opening Daytona 500. The 29-year-old driver was leading the 50th edition of the “Great American Race” with 17 laps to go when he was spun out by another competitor. As a result, Bowyer was left with a 24th-place finish. Since then, Bowyer raced this car to a ninth-place finish in April at Talladega Superspeedway. 

* Daytona Details … In six Sprint Cup Series races on Daytona’s high banks, including the 2008 Budweiser Shootout, Bowyer has earned three top-10 finishes at the “World Center of Racing.” The two-time Sprint Cup Series winner has logged a 23.7 starting average paired with a solid 13.2 average finish. Meanwhile, Bowyer has completed all 995 laps of competition dating back to his 2006 rookie season and led six times for 59 laps. 

* RCR Rocks Daytona … Dating back to 1986, RCR owns 24 total victories at DIS, including Dale Earnhardt’s emotional win in 1998, kicking off NASCAR’s 50th anniversary season, and Kevin Harvick’s dramatic win in the 2007 season-opening Daytona 500. Additionally, RCR won 10 straight (1990-1999) qualifying races with Dale Earnhardt. All told, RCR has won five Bud Shootouts, 13 qualifying races, two Coke Zero 400s and two Daytona 500s. Dale Earnhardt Jr. also won the February 2002 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona driving a car fielded by RCR and Harvick won the 2007 Nationwide Series opener at DIS in the No. 21 Chevrolet. In 104 points-paying Sprint Cup Series races at the historic 2.5-mile Daytona Beach race course, RCR has four wins, 10 poles, 25 top-five and 45 top-10 finishes. RCR-prepared race cars have also led 1,440 laps and earned just over $16 million in purse money. Richard Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s premier division earned two of those top 10s between February 1976 and July 1980. 

* Last Week at Loudon … Bowyer ran in and around the top five for the majority of last weekend’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. However, contact from another competitor, who was four laps down late in the event, cost Bowyer an all-but-assured top-10 finish. He was scored 22nd in the final rundown and slipped from 10th to 11th in points. 

* 90 and Counting … Bowyer made his 90th-career Sprint Cup Series start last weekend at NHMS. Dating back to April 23, 2005, the Emporia, Kan., native has earned two wins, two poles, 13 top-five (14 percent) and 36 top-10 finishes (40 percent). He has led 649 laps and earned just over $13 million in purse money. Over those 90 starts, Bowyer has logged a 19.6 starting average and a 16.7 finishing average. The two-time Sprint Cup Series winner has been running at the finish in 86 of those 90 races and finished on the lead lap 56 times. 

* The Fast Way Around … While serving as Harvick’s crew chief at the 2002 Coke Zero 400, Bowyer’s crew chief, Gil Martin, captured the pole after Harvick posted a fast lap of 48.638 seconds (185.041 mph).

* Keep on Rolling … Bowyer has been running at the end of every race dating back to Phoenix in November 2006, a streak of 54 races. The only other driver running at the end of more consecutive races is Harvick who extended his own modern-era (1972-present) streak last weekend in New Hampshire by finishing his 61st consecutive race without recording a DNF (did not finish). 

* Meet the Press … Bowyer, one of the newest members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family will represent Coke Zero to discuss the brand’s inaugural sponsored race. Bowyer, along with Ben Reiling, director, motorsports marketing, Coca-Cola North America will meet the press in the Daytona International Speedway infield media center Thursday, July 3 at 1:30 p.m. 

* Taste of Victory … This weekend at the inaugural Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola, a win by any one of 13 drivers sponsored by Coca-Cola can result in free Coke Zero for millions of people across the United States. If a member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family takes the checkered flag in the Coke Zero 400, race fans around the country will be able to visit CokeZero.com for one week after the race to receive a coupon redeemable for a free 20-ounce bottle of Coke Zero. The Coke Zero “Taste of Victory” program gives race fans an added incentive to pull for their favorite Coca-Cola sponsored drivers during this weekend’s race. 

* Meet the Driver, Sample a Coke Zero … Bowyer will appear at the Coca-Cola display on Saturday, July 5 at 4:30 p.m. for a brief question and answer session. Following the Q&A session, the newest member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family will make his way to the Coke Zero sampling station where he will offer select race fans a free sample of Coke Zero. The Coca-Cola display will be located in the speedway’s display area outside turn four. 

* Double Duty at Daytona … In addition to his duties behind the wheel of the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevy, Bowyer will also race the No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race. The Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, July 4 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 19th of 35 points-paying races on the 2008 schedule for NASCAR’s junior division will be televised live on ESPN2 the same day beginning at 1 p.m. EDT. 

* Catch the Action … Live coverage of the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola from Daytona International Speedway will take the green flag Saturday July 5 at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The race will be televised on TNT and broadcast worldwide on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for round 18 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship will be televised live on SPEED Friday, July 4 at 4 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide live qualifying updates.

• CLINT BOWYER QUOTES

Are you excited to get back down to Daytona?

“Daytona has been a good track for us, at least when we’re not upside down and on fire. We always seem to race well at Daytona. We don’t qualify the best but we always seem to race good. It’s not all about speed and drafting. You have to handle at Daytona as opposed to a place like Talladega where handling is virtually out the window since they repaved it. I enjoy Daytona and I can’t wait to get down there.”

Daytona’s not a bad place to come off turn four and head through the tri-oval leading the pack.

“We’ve had the chance to lead at Daytona a few times. Hopefully, we’ll have a good Jack Daniel’s Chevy Impala on Saturday night and a good BB&T Chevy Monte Carlo on Friday night. We want to lead some laps and race for a couple of wins.”

Is the atmosphere much different between the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400?

“There’s not as much hype and build-up to the race in July as there is in February but the night race just adds a whole different element to this weekend.”