Tuesday

Clint Bowyer, 2011 NSCS Coke Zero 400 Race Preview

Clint Bowyer

No. 33 Wheaties FUEL Chevrolet

Race Notes and Quotes

This Week’s Wheaties FUEL Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot chassis No. 294 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This Chevrolet Impala, built in 2010 specifically for restrictor-place racing, has seen action at four races over the last two seasons, never finishing outside of the top 10. This includes a trip to Talladega Superspeedway’s Victory Lane last October, a fourth-place finish in the 2010 Daytona 500 and a ninth-place finish in this year’s edition of the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. Most recently, it was on track for a second-place effort in the April Talladega event where Bowyer finished a record-tying 0.002 seconds behind race winner Jimmie Johnson.

Career Daytona Stats … This weekend’s 400 miler marks Bowyer’s 198^th career NSCS start.

• • • • In 11 NSCS starts at “The World Center of Racing,” Bowyer owns two top-five and six top-10 finishes, posting his best finish of fourth twice – once in the 2009 Daytona 500 and the other one year later in the “Great American Race.”
      • Bowyer has completed 99.9% (1,980 of 1,981) of the laps contested at the Daytona Beach, Fla.-based track during his career.
      • The Emporia, Kan., native has led 146 laps at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
      • Bowyer owns a 19.4 average starting position and an average finishing position of 13.2.

Bowyer in Black … This weekend under the lights, Wheaties FUEL will put “Bowyer in Black” as the No. 33 Chevrolet will feature a black-and-orange paint scheme for the Coke Zero 400. The scheme was voted in last month by Bowyer’s fans through a special online sweepstakes promotion.

Getting Loopy on Lake Lloyd …Bowyer holds some impressive loop data statistics on the high banks of Daytona. The four-time Sprint Cup Series race winner is fifth in laps led (146), sixth in driver rating (89.1), eighth in average running position, 10^th in green-flag passes (2,327) and 12th in quality passes (passing a car in the top 15 while running under green) with 1,290 passes. He has also run 1,067 laps in the top 15.

Former Winner … The 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion won from the pole after leading 48 of the 102 laps contested in the 2009 NNS event. It was Bowyer’s first career restrictor-plate victory.

Wine Country … After starting from the ninth position, Bowyer and the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet team spent 96 of 110 laps running in the top 15 en route to their third top-five finish of the 2011 season, finishing fourth in the Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

Points Racing … With his strong top-five run last weekend, Bowyer jumped two positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings to eighth. He now sits just 77 markers out of first and 40 points out of the top five.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:

Did the new pavement really change the racing surface at Daytona?

“Yeah, it really did. Our 17^th-place finish in the Daytona 500 didn’t really show our efforts there. With five or six laps to go, we were one of six cars that were going to have a shot at winning. It was a three, two-car break-a-way at the end and we were one of them. We just got wiped out. Someone got turned down low and ran us into the wall. We made it a lot longer than most of them. We just didn’t make it as long as Trevor Bayne did.”

Are you on terms with two-car drafting?

“Oh yeah, I like it. I really do. It gives you something to focus on and work on all race long instead of just riding along. With so much on the line, you need to get yourself a good finish and give yourself the best odds. Before, I would go to the back, ride for awhile to stay out of trouble and let that big wreck to happen if it’s going happen. After that, you would put yourself in position at the end to win the thing. That was the smart thing to do. Now, you can kind of prevent that from happening. You can get latched onto a teammate that you know you’re on common ground with. You know him and what he’s going to do. On top of that, you’re talking to him back and forth on the radio. I just like that situation better. You can kind of control your destiny a little bit more. If you’re running well and want to stay up front, why not lead laps and be on TV for your fans and your sponsors? If not, go to the back because, together, you know you can get right back up there when it’s time.”

Can you explain what it is like to push someone at 200 mph when visibility is a problem?

“You know, it’s not really that big of a deal as some people think it is. The biggest thing you have to figure out is how to push him the longest and keep your car cool. It’s about moving out to the left side and getting some air in your grill and doing it at the right time so you don’t loose time. As soon as you duck out, you’re pushing a lot bigger hole through the air and the cars behind you have that much more air to suck up onto. You really have to be careful when to pull out and cool your car and when not to. At the end, you need to have that thing cooled down so you can stay single file and tight up to him. That way, you can have a shot at winning.”

What did you think about Trevor Bayne winning the Daytona 500?

“He’s a super kid. I’m very happy for him. Obviously, I’m really happy for the Wood Brothers. That win turned their whole program around. They’ve had sponsorship and been to the track in a lot bigger fashion, but now they’ve had a lot bigger excitement around their team and that’s because of Trevor Bayne and the wonderful job he did. I don’t know if he paid his dues quite yet, but certainly happy for him and everyone involved. That was a huge win.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release