Catchfence

Clint Bowyer No. 33 - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

· This Week’s Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 277 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Built new for 2009, this Chevrolet debuted at Indianapolis in July, where Bowyer recorded an 18th-place finish.

· Back Where it Started … Bowyer, a native of Emporia, Kan., grew up just over 100 miles southwest of Kansas Speedway. He graduated from Emporia High School and attended Flint Hills Technical College, also located in Emporia. He began his career racing motorcycles in his native Kansas when he was five years old, and made the transition to four wheels in 1996, racing Street Stocks at Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kan. Over the next seven seasons, he went on to win dirt modified championships at Thunderhill Speedway (2000), Lakeside Speedway (2001 & 2002) and Heartland Park Topeka (2001). Bowyer also won an asphalt late model championship at the famed I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo and the 2002 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Midwest Championship. Since then, he has claimed two poles, two wins, 20 top-five and 57 top-10 finishes in 137 Sprint Cup starts; seven poles, eight wins, 60 top fives and 100 top 10s and the 2008 championship in 153 Nationwide Series starts; and one pole, one win, two top-five and three top-10 finishes in seven Camping World Truck Series races.

· Kansas Facts … In three NSCS starts at Kansas Speedway, Bowyer boasts one top-five and two top-10 finishes. His best showing at the 1.5-mile oval is a second-place finish, which he achieved in the rain-shortened event in 2007. Additionally, the 30-year-old driver has led 43 laps of competition, has an average starting position of 13.3, an average finish of 7.7 and has completed 100 percent of the laps contested (744 of 744).

· Rearview Mirror … Bowyer was able to overcome a pre-race setback that saw him start at the back of the field due to an engine change to finish 15th in last Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.

· Get to the Points … Bowyer’s 15th-place finish at Dover allowed him to maintain the 15th position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. Out of the Chase field, the race for 13th place is on. Bowyer trails the current position holder, Matt Kenseth, by 113 markers.

· Through 28 Races … Over the season’s first 28 races, Bowyer has accumulated four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes, an average start of 18th and an average finish of 15.9. The two-time NSCS winner has led 40 laps of competition and has completed 7,703 of the 8,036 (95.9 percent) laps contested thus far.

· One Trophy Missing from the Shelf … Surprisingly enough, in 23 NSCS starts at Kansas Speedway, RCR has only two top-five and seven top-10 finishes, including sixth- and seventh-place finishes by Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, respectively, one year ago. RCR’s best finish at Kansas was Bowyer’s runner-up finish in 2007. All told, RCR has a 23.8 starting average and a 16.4 average finish at the metropolitan Kansas City race course. The only other tracks on the current schedule where RCR hasn’t earned Sprint Cup Series wins are Auto Club Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

· The Collective RCR … In 28 races this season, RCR’s four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries have notched nine top-five and 26 top-10 finishes. The No. 29 team kicked off the 2009 season with a win in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. RCR-prepared cars have also completed 31,239 laps with four different drivers including Burton, Bowyer, Harvick and Casey Mears. RCR teams have led 188 laps and all four teams have earned just shy of $16 million combined purse money in 2009.

Double Duty … Fresh off a win in last Saturday’s Dover 200, Bowyer, the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion, will drive the No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300. Live coverage of the event begins Saturday, Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on ESPN2 and broadcast worldwide on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

• Meet the Driver … Fans can meet Bowyer on Thursday, Oct. 1 from 2 – 4 p.m. Central Standard Time at Hy-Vee Supermarket located at 4000 W. 6th Street in Lawrence, Kan. Three hundred wristbands will be distributed at 1 p.m. on a first come, first served basis.

• A Win for the Helping Hands … The Helping Hands pit crew won the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award for their quick work on pit road last week in Dover. The award is given on a weekly basis to the team that spends the least amount of time on pit road and finishes on the lead lap.

• Stateline Challenge … Earlier this week, Sprint announced a partnership with drivers Clint Bowyer (Emporia, KS) and Carl Edwards (Columbia, MO) as they battle for home-turf bragging rights at Kansas Speedway. Bowyer and Edwards’ private race within a race, the Sprint Stateline Challenge, will determine which driver’s name dons a $100,000 check to the Victory Junction Gang Camp on behalf of Sprint. An additional $25,000 will be presented on behalf of the runner up. All proceeds from the Sprint Stateline Challenge will help fund construction efforts for a new Kansas City VJGC location.

• Clint Bowyer Live … Bowyer will sign autographs at the Cheerios/Hamburger Helper souvenir trailer located in Kansas Speedway’s display area on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 9 a.m. Tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis early that morning and will be limited in number due to time constraints.

• Mark Your Calendars … In honor of its 40th anniversary, RCR will host a Fan Day at the Welcome, N.C. complex on Thursday, Oct. 22 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Activities include driver and pit crew autograph sessions, self-guided tours of RCR’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide as well as ECR’s engine shop, radio remotes, musical entertainment, pit crew competition, viewing of the DALE movie, question-and-answer session with team owner Richard Childress and much more. General admission to RCR’s Fan Day is just $5, which will benefit the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.

• Catch the Action … Live coverage of the Price Chopper 400 from Kansas Speedway begins Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and will be telecast live on ABC. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio, with their live coverage beginning at 1:15 p.m. Qualifying for the 29th points-paying race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tour will be broadcast live on ESPN2 Friday, Oct. 2 beginning at 4:30 p.m. EDT and can be heard worldwide on MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:

How would you describe to a fan just how badly you want to win a Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas?

“Growing up, racing at Lakeside Speedway five miles down the road, driving by the place as it was being built, I dreamed about how cool it would be to race there. To get to do that now, in the premier division of racing, is pretty cool. To think that you have a chance at winning there makes it even more incredible. It would be pretty big on my list of accomplishments if we were able to win there.”

Has RCR’s intermediate program improved enough lately to give you a shot at winning this weekend?

“I think so. We ran in the top three at Chicago all night and that gives me good hope that we’ll go to Kansas and run well. It’s always important to me to run well at Chicago because I know that the same setup will go a long way in getting a good setup for Kansas.”

How would you describe what you go through with so many friends and family that want to come to Kansas to watch you race? Is it a blessing, a curse or a combination?

“It’s a lot of fun but it’s tough. It’s a lot of hard work because a lot of people are pulling at you in a lot of different ways. That’s your hometown, everybody wants a little piece of you whether it be family, friends or sponsors that have helped me through the years. It’s a fun and exciting weekend. It’s a long weekend, too. When the weekend is over, I’m worn out, but we’ve always had a good time.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release