Bowyer, Jack Daniel’s Team Stretch Out for Daytona 500
Race/Date: Gatorade Duel at Daytona – Race No. 1
Location: Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.
Start Position: 21st - Finish Position: 18th

Daytona Beach, Fla. – Clint Bowyer raced his No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS to an 18th-place finish in yesterday’s first Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race, earning the 31st starting spot in Sunday’s 50th running of the Daytona 500.

The top-20 effort fell short of Bowyer and company’s expectations for the traditional Thursday afternoon high-speed thriller but, nonetheless, Mr. Jack’s Crew was still able to use the event as a warm-up for Sunday’s golden anniversary installment of the “Great American Race.”

In qualifying last weekend, Bowyer lapped the storied Daytona tri-oval in 48.885 seconds (184.106 mph) and turned in the 44th-fastest lap of the session. He was scheduled to roll off the starting grid 21st in Thursday’s first qualifier but an unplanned engine change the afternoon before forced Bowyer to drop to the tail of the field before the day’s first 60-lap race took the green flag.

As the 27-car field came up to speed and thundered down Daytona’s 3,800-foot front straightaway, Bowyer was quick to gravitate toward the front. The Emporia, Kan., driver picked up five spots before the first of the race’s two caution flags waved on lap three when Brian Vickers spun on the back stretch.

Back under green after a two-lap hiatus, Bowyer picked up positions in wholesale fashion, slicing his wall all the way into the top five by the race’s 14th circuit. Over the next 21 laps, Bowyer raced with the leaders and was running nose-to-tail in a six-car breakaway before making a green flag pit stop on lap 35.

Trouble with the exchange on pit road cost the team a handful of positions, forcing Bowyer to ride without drafting partners until the second and final caution flag was displayed with just five laps to go.

Veteran crew chief Gil Martin summoned his driver to pit road with four laps remaining, opting for fresh right-side rubber. Knowing many other teams who chose to pit would go the four-tire route, Martin was hoping to gain as much real estate on pit road as possible in an effort to salvage a respectable showing.

Unfortunately, with only two laps left when the green flag waved on lap 58, time wasn’t on Bowyer’s side and he was forced to settle for an 18th-place finish when the checkers waved.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., won the race, his second win at DIS in the last week. Reed Sorenson was second, followed by Ryan Newman and Casey Mears. Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five finishers.

Speedweeks culminates Sunday as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gears up for 500 miles on Daytona’s storied high banks.

The Daytona 500 will be televised live on FOX Sunday, Feb. 17 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The first of 36 points-paying races on the 2008 schedule can be heard live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

• CLINT BOWYER QUOTES

“We didn’t finish as well as we’d hoped but it was a good warm-up for Sunday. We have a good enough car to run up front … we just need a little help and some good cars to draft with and we’ll be just fine for Sunday.”