Tough Outing for Bowyer, Jack Daniel’s Chevy in Chicago

Race/Date: LifeLock.com 400 – July 12, 2008 - Location: Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, Ill. - Start Position: 10th (Field set by owner’s points/Qualifying rained out) - Finish Position: 22nd - Points Position: 13th (Slipped three spots)

Joliet, Ill. – Clint Bowyer and the Jack Daniel’s Racing team weathered a stormy weekend to finish 22nd in Saturday night’s LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Handling-related issues plagued Bowyer and his Gil Martin-led team for the bulk of the weekend.

The disappointing result cost Bowyer three positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points with the 29-year-old driver slipping from 10th to 13th in the standings.

Still, with a tightly bunched field inside the top 12, Bowyer is just 27 markers behind 12th-place Denny Hamlin, 49 behind Tony Stewart in 10th and a mere 61 markers behind Matt Kenseth’s 2,317-point tally. The top 12 in points, following the Sprint Cup Series 26th race, will determine the 12-car field that qualifies for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – a 10-race playoff that determines the 2008 champion on NASCAR’s senior circuit.

Inclement weather forced NASCAR to scrub qualifying on Thursday evening and the field was set based on owner’s points. The rulebook worked in Mr. Jack’s Crew’s favor awarding the team a starting spot on the outside of the fifth row for Saturday night’s LifeLock.com 400.

After struggling in both practices on Friday, Martin opted to move away from the team’s original set-up and try something a little more non-traditional in hopes of giving his driver a better feel for the weekend’s feature event.

During the opening 35 laps, Bowyer reported a tight-handling condition and the Jack Daniel’s Chevy faded from its 10th-place starting spot to 22nd in the running order. Fortunately, NASCAR displayed a pre-determined competition caution flag on lap 35, offering Martin his first shot at fine-tuning the black-and-white No. 07 Chevy. During the team’s initial trip to pit lane, the veteran crew chief called for a fresh set of tires and host of tire air pressure and chassis adjustments to help ease Bowyer’s temperamental-handling machine.

The green flag waved again on lap 38 but Bowyer informed Martin the car was still too tight. Over the next 72 laps, the Jack Daniel’s Chevy ran as high as 17th and the two-time Sprint Cup Series winner told his crew chief that the car was getting much better late in the run but the group had its work cut out for themselves to get going on fresh tires.

Bowyer made four more trips to pit road during the middle and latter stages of the race. With every stop, the Jack Daniel’s Chevy got a little better and the Emporia, Kan., driver worked his way as high as 14th in the running order. But, as the night wore on, track conditions continued to change and Bowyer eventually lost the feel for his black and white Impala SS.

Over the closing 67 laps, Bowyer continued to wrestle with his car and eventually faded from 15th to 22nd in the final rundown. While the result fell far short of the team’s expectations, the third-year Sprint Cup Series driver raced on the lead lap all night and came home with all four fenders in tact.

Kyle Busch won his seventh race of the season beating back-to-back defending series’ champion Jimmie Johnson to the checkered flag by just over a tenth of a second. Bowyer’s RCR teammate Kevin Harvick finished third, Greg Biffle was fourth and Stewart rounded out the top-five.

Fellow RCR teammate Jeff Burton brought his AT&T Chevrolet home 19th in the final rundown.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series enjoys its final break of the year this weekend before embarking on a 17-race stretch to close out the 2008 season.

In two weeks, NASCAR’s senior circuit heads to Indianapolis for the division’s annual stop at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard will take the green flag Saturday, July 27 at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 1 p.m. EDT and broadcast from coast-to-coast on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 20th points-paying race on the 36-race Sprint Cup Series tour will be televised live on ESPN2 Saturday, July 26 at 10 a.m. EDT.

• CLINT BOWYER QUOTE

“For whatever reason, we just couldn’t get a hold of the race track all weekend. We’ve been struggling on the mile-and-a-half tracks this season and those are the places where we really ran well last year. We’ve definitely got some work to do but I know Gil and all the guys on the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet will get it figured out so we can get back in the top 12 and be ready for the Chase.”