|
|
|
|
Clint Bowyer
|
| |
|
| |
Clint Bowyer (born May 30, 1979, in Emporia, Kansas) is an American NASCAR driver. He currently pilots the #33 General Mills/BB&T/The Hartford Chevrolet Impala SS in the Sprint Cup Series and the #29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet Impala SS in the Nationwide Series part-time, both for Richard Childress Racing. He won the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.
er 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.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Clint Bowyer' Start a new discussion about 'Clint Bowyer' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Clint Bowyer (born May 30, 1979, in Emporia, Kansas) is an American NASCAR driver. He currently pilots the #33 General Mills/BB&T/The Hartford Chevrolet Impala SS in the Sprint Cup Series and the #29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet Impala SS in the Nationwide Series part-time, both for Richard Childress Racing. He won the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.
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 racington 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.
NASCAR career
2004-2007
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 Incorporated with help from Andy Petree Racing.
Bowyer's first full Busch 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 was seeded 12th for the playoff, since race wins determine playoff seeding. 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.
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.
2008-Present
In 2008, Bowyer continued to drive in the Cup and Nationwide Series full-time. Bowyer dominated the late stages of the Daytona 500 but was spun out by Juan Pablo Montoya with 17 laps remaining.
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.
On August 23rd, 2008, Bowyer was announced as the driver of the #33 General Mills Chevrolet Impala SS for RCR. Casey Mears from Hendrick Motorsports will replace Bowyer in the 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet Impala SS. This move was necessitated by a sponsor's request, as General Mills did not want Mears, who had been driving in the 2008 season for a a rival cereal with Hendrick Motorsports, representing them, so Childress sponsors General Mills and Brown-Forman Corporation agreed to the swap so Bowyer, who drove for Brown-Forman, would drive for General Mills, and Mears could drive for Brown-Forman, as they had no problems with Mears representing the company.
On November 15, 2008, Clint Bowyer won the NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Florida with a narrow margin of victory over Carl Edwards of 21 points. Edwards won the race with Bowyer finishing 5th.
Consistency
Since 2007, Clint Bowyer has made the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup by pure consistency, and won the 2007 Sylvania 300 after making the chase. He ended up finishing third in the standings to champion Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, despite only one win, but 17 top-tens. Bowyer matched that amount in 2008 and won the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 and came fifth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Bowyer also won the 2008 Nascar Nationwide Series Championship by a margin of 21 points over Carl Edwards with only one win at Bristol Motor Speedway where the race was stopped because of rain. Bowyer finished out the season with 29 top-tens.
Bowyer has not scored a DNF since his rookie season in 2006, and is running a streak of 75 consecutive finishes; should he finish every race coming into the Coca-Cola 600, and finish that race, he will set a new record for most races without a DNF.
Career NASCAR Statistics
Data as of November 17, 2008
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."
External links
|
| |
|
|
