Catchfence

2010 NSCS Clint Bowyer - Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR

No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet Impala

Race Notes and Quotes

This Weekend’s Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet Impala at Dover International Speedway… Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 298 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new Chevrolet that will be put through its first paces this weekend.

Dover Facts … In eight NSCS starts at “Monster Mile”, Bowyer has earned three top-10 and six top-15 finishes. He’s recorded his best finish, eighth, at the one-mile concrete oval three times, most recently in September 2008. The Emporia, Kan., native has an average start of 20th, a 14.4 average finish and has completed 3,180 of 3,200 laps contested (99.4 percent) at Dover.

Two-Time Winner … The 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion visited Dover’s Victory Lane twice while running in NASCAR’s junior circuit. Both wins came on the same date, September 26, three years apart from one another, in 2006 and 2009.

Through 11 … The two-time NSCS race winner has earned one top-five and six top-10 finishes in the season’s first 11 starts. Bowyer boasts a 15th-place average start and a 16.9 average finish. He is currently tied for 14th, with Ryan Newman, in the NSCS point standings, 38 markers outside the coveted top 12.

Season Loop … Based on NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics over the first 11 races of the 2010 season, here is how Bowyer stacks up against the competition:

• Speedy … Bowyer ranks fourth in both the Green Flag Speed and Fastest Speed in Traffic categories.

• Start and Finish … The two-time NSCS race winner is seventh fastest in the first 25 percent of the laps run since a pit stop and fourth fastest in the last 25 percent of the laps run since a pit stop this season.

• Top 15 … Despite three finishes of 32nd or worse, Bowyer ranks 10th in Laps In the Top 15 category, as he has been scored inside the top 15 for 58.2 percent (2,186 of 3,753) of the laps contested.

• Rearview Mirror … Bowyer and the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing team went to Darlington Raceway looking to celebrate The Hartford’s 200th birthday in style, but a series of unfortunate events throughout the weekend led to a 32nd-place finish in Saturday night’s SHOWTIME Southern 500. During first practice on Friday, Bowyer made heavy contact with the turn two wall. The damage forced the team to unload their backup No. 33 Hartford Chevrolet and they qualified 27th later that evening. During the race, the Shane Wilson-led team encountered two rear brake line failures which, ultimately, led to their less-than-desired 32nd-place result.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:

Does the schedule change of having this race prior to the Charlotte races affect you at all?

“No, to us it’s just another race weekend. Dover has been a good race track for us. We’ve had our ups and downs there, too, but we always run in the top five there. Anything can happen in these races, but if you run in the top five long enough, you’re going to get a win. I feel like Dover is a track where we’re due for a win on the Cup side. We’ve won there twice in the Nationwide Series, but, hopefully, we can get the job done on Sunday.”

How about avoiding trouble at Dover? What’s the best way to avoid being wrapped up in an accident?

“It’s tight quarter there. If a wreck happens in front of you, like it commonly does off of turn two, man I’m telling you, there’s no way you get through it untouched. If you snake yourself through a wreck on the back straightaway, you should consider yourself very lucky. Dover is a cool race track though. It’s very fast with the high banking and it’s just tight quarters racing at its best. It’s hard to pass at Dover, too. You really have to set up the car ahead of you in order to get by him. You need a good racecar but, as a driver, you have to get up on the wheel and get aggressive in order to make things happen. You really have to attack that track.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release