Clint Bowyer
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Born: | May 30, 1979 | |
Birthplace: | Emporia, Kansas | |
Achievements: | — | |
Awards: | 2000 Thunderhill Speedway Modified Champion 2001 Lakeside Speedway Modified Champion 2001 Heartland Park Topeka Modified Champion 2002 I-70 Speedway Late Model Champion 2002 Lakeside Speedway Modified Champion 2002 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Midwest Division Champion |
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics | ||
Car #, Team | #07 - Richard Childress Racing | |
2007 Sprint Cup Position: | 3rd | |
Best Cup Position: | 3rd - 2007 (NEXTEL Cup) | |
First Race: | 2005 Subway Fresh 500 (Phoenix) | |
First Win: | 2007 Sylvania 300 (Loudon) | |
Last Win: | 2008 Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (Richmond International Raceway) | |
Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
2 | 35 | 2 |
NASCAR Nationwide Series Statistics | ||
Car #, Team | #2 - Richard Childress Racing | |
2007 NNS Position: | 11th | |
Best NNS Position: | 2nd - 2005 (Busch Series) | |
First Race: | 2004 O'Reilly 300 (Texas) | |
First Win: | 2005 Federated Auto Parts 300 (Nashville) | |
Last Win: | 2008 Sharpie Mini 300 (Bristol) | |
Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
6 | 73 | 6 |
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Statistics | ||
Car #, Team | #2 - Kevin Harvick Incorporated | |
First Race: | 2006 Kroger 250 (Martinsville) | |
First Win: | 2006 Silverado 350K (Texas) | |
Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
1 | 3 | 1 |
Statistics current as of May 4, 2008. |
Clint Bowyer (born May 30, 1979, in Emporia, Kansas) is an American NASCAR driver. He currently pilots the #07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet Impala SS in the Sprint Cup Series and the #2 BB&T Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Nationwide Series, both for Richard Childress Racing. He also drives the #2 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Incorporated in the Craftsman Truck Series.
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[edit] Early career
Bowyer began racing at the age of five in motocross. He went on to capture over 200 wins and numerous championships over the next eight years. In 1996, he began racing street stocks at Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kansas, and won the Modified championship there in 2000. Bowyer racked up 18 wins and 32 top-five finishes on his way to capturing the 2001 Modified championships at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas and Heartland Park Topeka. In 2002, he began racing in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, posting 9 poles, 12 wins and 32 top-five finishes en route to a second place finish in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series national point standings. He was also crowned the 2002 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Midwest Champion after another Modified championship at Lakeside Speedway and a Late Model championship at the famed I-70 Speedway in Odessa, MO, his first attempt at racing on asphalt.
In 2003, Bowyer raced a full season in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division Midwest Series, scoring one top-ten finish in 11 starts. He also would make his first ARCA starts in 2003, and caught the eye of legendary car owner Richard Childress after leading 47 laps and finishing second in his debut at Nashville Superspeedway.
[edit] NASCAR career
In 2004, Bowyer began running the NASCAR Busch Series for Childress, sharing seat time in the #21 Reese's Chevrolet with Kevin Harvick. He drove in half of the 34 Busch Series races that year, winning one pole and seven top-tens, attaining a season-high 3rd place finish in the Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway in June. He also ran three races for Kevin Harvick, Inc. with help from Andy Petree Racing.
Bowyer's first full season was in 2005, replacing Ron Hornaday in the #2 ACDelco Chevrolet. He won two poles and two races en route to a second place finish to repeat-champion Martin Truex Jr., losing by only 68 points. He also made his NEXTEL Cup debut in the Sylvania-sponsored #33 Chevy on April 23, 2005, during the Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. He finished 22nd as the first car one lap down. Richard Childress Racing announced on October 15, 2005, that Bowyer would race the #07 Chevrolet full time in the NEXTEL Cup series, replacing Dave Blaney for the 2006 season.
Bowyer began his rookie Cup season with three top-fifteen finishes and had a total of eleven top-tens that season, with his best finish being a 3rd at California Speedway. He finished 68 points behind Denny Hamlin for NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Bowyer also continued to drive the #2 in the Busch Series full-time, winning once and finishing 3rd in points. Bowyer won his first Craftsman Truck Series Truck Series race in the #46 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet Silverado fielded by Morgan-Dollar Motorsports at Texas Motor Speedway on November 3, 2006, in his third career Truck start, making his first CTS start that year at Martinsville for Green Light Racing.
After starting the 2007 season with a last-lap crash at Daytona, Bowyer won the Budweiser Pole position for the Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway.
He finished the regular season 9th in points but after the win adjustment for the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup was relegated to 12th, being the only top-12 driver with no wins.
Bowyer won his second pole at the Sylvania 300 at Loudon, and two days later went on to win his first NEXTEL Cup race in his 64th start.
Bowyer finished off the season 3rd in the final standings to Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon.
For the 2007 Busch season, Bowyer ran a partial Busch Series schedule in the RCR #2 car with BB&T and Camping World sponsorship. On April 20, 2007, he won the Busch Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. He followed that up with another Busch Series win on May 4 in the Circuit City 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
Bowyer also ran select races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Kevin Harvick.
In 2008, Clint's season will start at the Bud Shootout followed by the regular season start at the 50th Daytona 500. Clint will drive the #07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet for RCR in the Sprint Cup and the #2 BB&T/ Camping World Chevrolet full time in the Nationwide Cup Series.
In the Daytona 500 he started the race in 31st and ended finishing in 24th.
Bowyer started 3rd in the Auto Club 500, but struggled to finish 19th.
In the UAW-Dodge 400 Clint started in the 21st position and struggled the whole race to finish 28th.
Bowyer ran great at the Kobalt Tools 500 starting 7th and finishing 6th.
On May 3, 2008, Bowyer earned his second Sprint Cup victory, winning the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Speedway. Bowyer led only two laps, going to the front after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch got together with less than four laps remaining in the race.
[edit] Career NASCAR Statistics
Year | Races | Wins | Poles | Top 5 | Top 10 | DNF | Finish | Start | Winnings | Season Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.0 | 25.0 | $61,700 | 70 |
2006 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 19.7 | 20.3 | $3,924,412 | 17 |
2007 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 13.8 | 17.4 | $4,215,869 | 3 |
2008 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 11.2 | 19.8 | $1,529,820 | 4 |
Totals | 83 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 35 | 4 | 16.7 | 20.6 | $9,731,801 |
Data as of May 3, 2008 [1]
[edit] Charity Work
On May 6th, 2008, Clint Bowyer attended and hosted the first annual Clint Bowyer Charity Golf Event in his hometown of Emporia, Kansas. It raised $160,000 for the Emporia Community foundation to "make Emporia a better place."
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site
- NEXTEL Cup driver page at NASCAR.com
- Career statistics at racing-reference.info
- Clint Bowyer - NASCAR - Yahoo! Sports
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Richard Childress Racing | |
Sprint Cup Drivers | Clint Bowyer (#07) | Kevin Harvick (#29) | Jeff Burton (#31) |
Nationwide Series Drivers | Scott Wimmer (#29) |
Driver development program Drivers | Austin Dillon | Ty Dillon | Stephen Leicht | Tim McCreadie |
Partnerships and Affiliations | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Kevin Harvick Incorporated | Morgan-Dollar Motorsports | Rusty Wallace, Inc. | SKI Motorsports |
Other | Richard Childress | Dale Earnhardt |