Clint Bowyer Event Preview 

No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS - Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Pepsi 500 – August 31, 2008
Venue: Auto Club Speedway of Southern California – Fontana, Calif.

NOTES:

* This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 237 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Built new for 2008, this is the same No. 07 Chevrolet Impala SS Bowyer raced to a 19th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California in February. He also drove this car to a sixth-place finish earlier this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway and to a 10th-place finish in April at Texas Motor Speedway. Since then, Chassis No. 237 has been outfitted with a new body and rear clip. 

* California Combined … In five Sprint Cup starts at Auto Club Speedway, Bowyer has one top-five and a pair of top-10 finishes, including a career-best third-place effort in September 2006 at the two-mile oval situated in the San Bernardino Mountains approximately an hour east of Los Angeles. The Emporia, Kan., driver finished 19th in the division’s last stop at Fontana. Dating back to Feb. 26, 2006 Bowyer has put together a strong 13.6 starting average combined with an even better 12.4 finishing average. He has completed all but one of the 1,251 laps contested over that stretch and has earned just shy of $600,000 in purse money. 

* Back In It … Despite being collected in a multi-car melee just prior to the halfway mark, Clint Bowyer and the Jack Daniel’s Racing team rallied to finish seventh in last Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The strong run vaulted Bowyer from 13th to 12th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship point standings with two races remaining in the Race to the Chase for the Sprint Cup. 

* Coming Down to the Wire … With two races remaining before the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship kicks off at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Bowyer is currently the last driver qualified for NASCAR’s 12-race playoff format that will determine the 2008 champion. The two-time Sprint Cup Series winner is 45 points behind Denny Hamlin’s 11th-place total and 66 behind Matt Kenseth in 10th. He paces 13th-place David Ragan by a scant 12 markers heading into Auto Club Speedway’s Labor Day Weekend Classic. 

* Race to the Chase … This weekend’s event at Auto Club Speedway marks the ninth “Race to the Chase” event – the 10-race stretch preceding the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which kicks following the Sept. 6 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Over the 10 “Race to the Chase” events last year (New Hampshire – Richmond), Bowyer posted one top-five and four top-10 finishes, notching an average finish of 14.3. His only finish outside the top 20 was at New Hampshire last July when he finished 37th after a freak incident on pit road cost Mr. Jack’s Crew eight laps. At this time last year, Bowyer was ninth in points – 638 markers behind then-leader Jeff Gordon. Currently, he is 12th in points – 754 back from current point leader Kyle Busch. 

* Over the First 25 … Over the season’s first 25 races, Bowyer has logged four top fives, 11 top 10s and led 150 laps. He’s posted a 23.5 starting average and a 16th-place average finish. He’s completed 6,773 of the 6,842 laps contested this season (98.99 percent) and earned just over $3 million in purse money. 

* Move Over New Hampshire … On Monday, Aug. 25, Bowyer was in Concord, N.H. to help promote changes New Hampshire’s “Move Over” Law which took effect on Aug 5, 2008. The changes provide additional protection to public safety personnel by specifying that motorists are required to slow down and give clearance to stationary vehicles displaying blue, red or amber emergency lights at the scene of any roadside emergency or incident. The state’s "Move Over" law took effect in 2005. The changes, which were passed in the 2008 legislative session, are intended to include tow truck operators and highway workers by specifying amber warning lights in the requirement to yield during highway breakdowns, crashes or other incidents. Forty-four other states already have similar legislation. Bowyer rode with New Hampshire State Police and handed out tickets to the Sept. 14 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 

* Keep on Rolling … Bowyer has been running at the end of every race dating back to Phoenix in November 2006, a streak of 61 races. The only other driver running at the end of more consecutive races is his teammate Kevin Harvick who extended his own modern-era (1972-present) streak last weekend at Bristol by finishing his 68th consecutive race without a DNF (did not finish).

· The Collective RCR … In 24 races this season, RCR-prepared Sprint Cup Series entries have notched two wins (Jeff Burton – Bristol, Bowyer – Richmond), 13 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes. The Welcome, N.C.,-based race team has completed 20,334 laps in 2008 with four different drivers including Bowyer, Burton, Harvick and Ken Schrader. Meanwhile, RCR teams have logged 28,738 miles of competition this season and been on top of the leaderboard for 311 laps. Combined, all four RCR teams have earned just over $10 million in purse money this season.

* RCR at California Speedway … In 44 overall starts at Auto Club Speedway, RCR cars have earned one pole (Mike Skinner – April 2000) four top five and 12 top-10 finishes. Bowyer’s third-place run in September 2006 is RCR’s best effort at the moderately-banked D-shaped race track.

* One Trophy Missing From the Case … RCR has earned a Sprint Cup Series victory at 18 of the 22 tracks on the 2008 schedule. The only tracks on the current schedule where RCR hasn’t earned wins are California Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. All totaled, RCR has Cup Series wins at 21 tracks, including three tracks no longer on the schedule (North Wilkesboro, Riverside and Rockingham). 

* An American Icon … Harley-Davidson plans to end the summer motorcycle season with a blowout event and RCR sponsor Shell is gearing up for the celebration. As the exclusive fuel sponsor of the Harley-Davidson® 105th Anniversary Celebration, Shell will mark the occasion with an exciting lineup of events taking place in Milwaukee throughout the four-day event -- August 28-31. To kick off the festivities, Bowyer -- a Harley® owner and driver of the No. 07 Jack-Daniels Chevrolet -- will be at the Shell Racing Experience at Veteran's Park on Thursday, August 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to greet fans and swap motorcycle stories. In addition to meeting Bowyer, event goers will have the opportunity to test their driving skills with the No. 07 and No. 29 NASCAR show cars and racing simulators and get a first hand feel of what it’s like to be in the pits with the Shell Tire Change Challenge. 

* Meet the Press … Bowyer will be available outside the No. 07 transporter, inside the Sprint Cup Series garage area, on Friday, Aug. 29 at 11:30 a.m. to field questions from the gathered press. 

* Meet the Driver … On Friday, Aug. 29 Bowyer will sign autographs at the Blood Bank of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties – 384 West Orange Show Road in San Bernardino – from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Blood donors are encouraged to meet Bowyer, get an autograph and celebrate giving the gift of life.

* A Couple in California … In addition to his duties behind the wheel of the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, Bowyer will also race the No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in Saturday’s Camping World 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Flag-to-flag coverage will be televised live Saturday, Aug. 30 on ESPN2 beginning at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 27th stop on the 35-race tour will be televised on SPEED the same day at 5:30 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will broadcast qualifying updates live. 

* Up to Speed … The Pepsi 500 from Auto Club Speedway of Southern California will take the green flag Sunday, August 31 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 7 p.m. EDT and broadcast from coast-to-coast on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on SPEED Friday, August 29 at 6:30 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will carry qualifying updates live.

• CLINT BOWYER QUOTES

How much better are you prepared for California this time around since the last time you were there it was the first time the newer car raced at an intermediate track?

“I think we’ve learned a lot since we were there in February. We’re still struggling on that type of race track. We’re looking to some things that will hopefully pay dividends when we get out there. That’s going to be such an important race track for us. Hopefully, we’ll be able to come out of California inside this Chase and, more importantly, stay there.

Last summer at California it was something ridiculous like 115 degrees. How do you prepare yourself that type of grueling heat?

“You just have to make the best of it. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to prepare yourself when it’s that hot. If you can sit in an oven for a couple days you can prepare yourself but I don’t think you’ll make it to the race (laughs). It was hot and miserable for everyone … not just for us in the car but for everyone on pit road too. At least the drivers had the luxury of getting out of the car and going back to the motor home and sit in the air conditioning but the guys working on the cars didn’t have any escape. It’s still the same for everybody and you have to make up your mind that you’re going to pull through and make it happen.”

From a driver’s standpoint, what’s the difference between California and Michigan?

“There are a lot of differences but the grip level is probably the biggest thing. Michigan is still a lot bigger. It feels a lot bigger and you can search around on the race track. California is becoming fun. The last time we were there, we were running high and the groove started to open up. It’s becoming more fun to drive and the racing is getting a lot better. The track should keep getting better as it ages. Hopefully, we can start putting on a better race for the fans and that makes it more fun for us in the cars.”