Tuesday

Clint Bowyer, 2009 Dickies 500 NSCS Race Preview

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

· This Week’s Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 257 from Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. A former No. 07 chassis, this Chevrolet Impala SS debuted at Indianapolis in 2008, where Bowyer finished 19th. Most recently, Bowyer raced this Impala SS to a sixth-place finish at Charlotte last month.

· Texas Facts … In seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Bowyer boasts two top-five and three top-10 finishes. His best finish of fourth came when series raced at TMS last November. The Emporia, Kan., native has completed all but five laps of competition at the 1.5-mile oval and has an average finish of 13.6.

· Through 33 Races … Over the season’s first 33 races, Bowyer has accumulated four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, an average start of 17.2 and an average finish of 15.6. The two-time NSCS winner has led 40 laps of competition and has completed 9,245 of the 9,579 (96.5 percent) laps contested thus far.

· Rearview Mirror … Bowyer was able to overcome an incident that limited his time on-track in Friday’s dual practice sessions and then managed to avoid two multi-car incidents in last Sunday’s 500-mile race at Talladega Superspeedway to bring home a 12th-place finish.

· Get to the Points … Bowyer’s 12th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway 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, Kyle Busch, by 111 markers.

· RCR at TMS … In 47 starts at TMS dating back to 1997, RCR has recorded one win, five top-five and 17 top-10 finishes with drivers Jeff Burton, Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green. Prior to TMS’s inaugural season, Richard Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division, earned a pair of top 10s while he was still behind the wheel at the now defunct Texas World Speedway in College Station.

· Former Winner … While Bowyer has not yet won at Texas in NSCS competition, he has visited Victory Lane there once before. Driving the No. 46 Chevrolet for David Dollar in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Bowyer won the Silverado 350K from the pole in 2006.

· The Collective RCR … In 33 races this season, RCR’s four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries have notched 10 top-five and 32 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 37,457 laps with four different drivers including Burton, Bowyer, Harvick and Casey Mears. RCR teams have led 244 laps and all four teams have earned just shy of $19 million combined purse money in 2009.

· Trivia With Clint … On behalf of Coca-Cola, Bowyer will join Kyle Petty and Elliott Sadler at the campground Brookshire’s store for a special trivia game. Fans can compete throughout the morning at Coca-Cola’s pit crew challenge to earn their way on stage as Bowyer and Sadler’s teammates. The simulator will be on-site throughout the day, with driver programming beginning at 1:45 p.m. Bowyer will make his way to the stage at 2:30 p.m.

· RC on PARADE … Childress was ranked fourth in the “Celebrities Who Give Big” article in the November 1, 2009 issue of Parade Magazine. Childress and his family donated $5 million in July 2008 to start the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. Other celebrities included the late Paul Newman, Brad Pitt and Angelia Joie, Mel Gibson, Oprah Winfrey, Oscar De La Hoya, Barbra Streisand and Leonardo DiCaprio.

· Meet the Driver … Fans can meet Bowyer on Friday, November 6 from 6-8 p.m. at Sam’s Club located at 1701 West State Highway 114 in Grapevine, Texas. Three-hundred wristbands will be available beginning at 5 p.m. and will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis due to time constraints. Club membership is not required for Bowyer’s appearance.

· Take a Spin … When attending NASCAR races, you get to watch some great driving on the track, but Chevrolet thinks consumers should get to feel the need for speed, too! On Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7, fans will have a rare opportunity to actually get behind the wheel of the coveted new Camaro for a test drive at Texas Motor Speedway. All participants will receive a Camaro t-shirt to commemorate the occasion. The Chevy Ride and Drive is located in the bus lot behind Hospitality Village, off Allison Avenue between Highway 114 and Victory Circle, and is open to the public on Friday, Nov. 6 from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov 7 from 7:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Fans can pre-register and skip the lines! See www.teamchevytestdrive.com for additional details.

· Last Time at Texas … Bowyer fought an ill-handling Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet at TMS when the series last raced there in April. While the finish was not what Bowyer and crew were looking for, their never-give-up attitude afforded the No. 33 team a 22nd-place finish at the end of the Samsung 500.

· Catch the Action … ABC’s live television coverage of the Dickies 500 from Texas Motor Speedway will begin Sunday, Nov. 8 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The event will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 34th points-paying race on the 36-race tour is scheduled to take the green flag on Friday, Nov. 6 at 4:30 p.m. EST and will be telecast live on SPEED. PRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will carry live qualifying updates.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:

You finished 10th and fourth at Texas last year. It’s been a pretty good track for you.

“It has. We struggled there in the spring, but I’ve ran well there in the past. I like Texas. I enjoy the track. It’s fast, you’ve got to get the car rolling the centers. You can get too loose there, but I’d definitely prefer a loose car there over a tight one.”

You led 36 laps in this race last fall. At some point did you think you might have a shot at it?

“It turned into a fuel mileage race at the end. It looked like we might be able to go the distance but we had to come to pit road for fuel in the closing stages of the race. Carl Edwards was able to stay out and that’s what won him the race. It was a strong showing for us on that day. We were definitely in contention for it.”

RCR has spent a lot of time working on the mile-and-a-half program after falling a little behind. How do you feel that you’ll stack up this weekend?

“There’s no better test than at Charlotte, and we had a good run there. There’s no question we fell behind on the mile-and-a-half stuff, but the guys worked really hard to get us back to where we needed to be. Our program has really turned around over the last couple of months. It’s not just one car running well. I think all four of our cars are running better and that shows that the chassis and bodies, our base package, is better.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release