WELCOME, NC (March 9, 2010) – Dale McDowell has started strong in his second season driving for Clint Bowyer Racing. The veteran from Chickamauga, Ga., reeled off a pair of top-10 finishes over the weekend and quietly moved himself into third-place overall in the Lucas Oils Late Models Series points stadnigs, just 155 shy of current leader Scott Bloomquist. McDowell and the CBR/Cheerios/ Dollar General Race Team made the trek to Bulls Gap, Tenn., on Saturday, March 6, to compete in the 60-lap “Spring Thaw” event where McDowell drove to a steadyninth-place. The following evening the team rolled into Gaffney, S.C., to do battle at Cherokee Speedway in the 50-lap March Madness event. After placing second in his heat race, McDowell started the A-Feature in the fourth position. The veteran driver put on a show as he battled with local driver Chris Madden, exchanging the lead several times. A late caution drew 2009 Series Champion Scott Bloomquist close to Dale’s rear bumper and the two battled side by side for the remaining four laps. Dale left everything out on the track, but came up a car-length short to Bloomquist and would have to settle for second.

TEAM NOTES:

Dale McDowell- “We had a good weekend. I already feel better this season (than last year), and I think we’re going to be able to be a lot more consistent. Passing was pretty hard at Bulls Gap, the track was really fast and nobody was making very many big moves forward or backward. Our set-up was almost perfect over at Gaffney. Chris (Madden) and I had a really good battle and I probably used my tires up racing with him through all of the lappers. I don’t know if I could have held Bloomquist off if that caution didn’t fly, but I knew he would be strong once it did. It’s frustrating to lose on the last lap, but we raced strong, led laps, and had a good points night.”

Crew Chief, Tommy Grecco- “I’m happy to be back on the road at the races. I don’t like the cold, but when we run like we did it makes it a little better. We sat down over the winter and  worked really hard on finding a base set up that Dale is comfortable with. We didn’t throw huge swings at the car and were able to get a lot out of small adjustments.”

Car Chief, Caleb Baker- “It wasn’t a bad weekend. We needed better track position on Saturday night, and we might have won the race Sunday if we had a little harder right rear. It’s still early in the season, but we’re having fun and running pretty decent. I can easily say we’re better this year already though.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB! – Caleb celebrated his 27th birthday Monday night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

NEXT – The Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series breaks until March 27, where it will resume with the Indiana Ice Breaker at Brownstown Speedway.