This Week’s BB&T Chevrolet at The Milwaukee Mile … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 058 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series stable. Formerly a No. 21 machine, Kevin Harvick was four for five with this Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in 2006, earning victories at Martinsville Speedway (July 22), O’Reilly Raceway Park (Aug. 5), Richmond International Raceway (Sept. 8) and Memphis Motorsports Park (Oct. 29) before finishing second at Phoenix International Raceway in November of the same year. Former RCR driver Tim McCreadie raced this car four times last season (Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Richmond and Memphis) while Timothy Peters raced it once (Phoenix). Bowyer tested this BB&T Chevy in March at Richmond but the car hasn’t seen on-track activity since.
* Milwaukee Minutes … In three Nationwide Series starts at The Milwaukee Mile, Bowyer has two top-six starting spots and a pair of top-10 finishes. The 2008 point leader has a 10.3 starting average, a 12.7 average finish at the flat, one-mile West Allis, Wis., oval. He has also led 56 laps and completed all 708 laps contested over those three starts.
* Bowyer in the Loop …
o Average Running Position … According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Bowyer leads the Average Running Position category with an 8.792 ARP. The ARP is derived from taking the sum of a driver’s position on each lap and dividing it by the number of laps run in each race.
o Laps in the Top 15 … Meanwhile, the six-time NNS winner has spent 2,590 of the 2,894 laps completed this season (89.5 percent) running in the top 15.
o Driver Rating … Bowyer also enjoys a 105.8 Driver Rating – second only to Kyle Busch (110.9) who will not compete in Milwaukee this weekend. The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
o Laps Led … Bowyer has led 284 laps in Nationwide Series competition this season and trails only Busch and two-time Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart in that category.
* A Look Back at Last Week … Last Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, Bowyer started 25th and finished ninth. It was his 13th top-10 finish in 16 races this season. At the same time, the two-time Sprint Cup Series winner extended his points led to 170 markers over second-place Brad Keselowski.
* Back and Forth, the Final Cut … Bowyer will travel back and forth between Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and The Milwaukee Mile this weekend as he pursues the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship. On Saturday, immediately following Sprint Cup final practice at Infineon, Bowyer will helicopter from Sonoma to Napa County Airport, where he will board team owner Richard Childress’ Hawker 800 business jet, which can travel up to 440 knots (500 mph), bound for Waukesha (Wis.) County Airport/Crites Field. Upon arrival at Crites Field, Bowyer will board another helicopter and fly to “America’s Legendary Oval” just in time for driver’s introductions. The 1,566-mile one-way trip should take just about four hours. If all goes according to plan, Bowyer should be on the ground at The Milwaukee Mile by 7 p.m. local time. By rule, Bowyer will start the race from the rear of the field because he won’t arrive in time to qualify or attend the mandatory driver’s meeting. Stephen Leicht will be in Milwaukee to practice and qualify the BB&T Chevy.
* RCR in Brew City … In 17 starts at The Milwaukee Mile, RCR-prepared Nationwide Series entries have earned one win, one pole, four top-five and six top-10 finishes with four different drivers including Bowyer, Harvick, Ron Hornaday and Scott Wimmer. At the same time, RCR cars have led 301 laps in seven races at the suburban Milwaukee race course.
* Catch the Cup Race … Following his duties behind the wheel of the No. 2 BB&T Chevy, Bowyer will return to Sonoma, Calif., for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Flag-to-flag coverage of the first of two road course races on the 2008 schedule will take the green flag Sunday, June 22 beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on TNT and broadcast on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 16th points-paying race on the Sprint Cup Series schedule will be telecast live on SPEED Friday, June 20 beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will carry qualifying updates live.
* Catch the Action … Flag-to-flag coverage of the 17th of 35 races on the 2008 Nationwide Series schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 Saturday, June 21st beginning at 8 p.m. EDT. The race will also be broadcast from coast-to-coast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on ESPN2 the same day at 5:30 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will carry qualifying updates live.
CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
It’s one thing to go back and forth between Pocono and Nashville or Michigan and Kentucky but Sonoma to Milwaukee has to be a nightmare.
“This weekend is the killer. You’re tired and miserable all weekend but it is only one weekend. You just have to get plenty of rest going into the weekend to be prepared. We’ve run well at Sonoma so I’m excited about going out there. Infineon is the one road course that I enjoy running. I’ve struggled at Watkins Glen but I really enjoy Sonoma. I like Milwaukee as well so it helps that both races are good tracks for us and tracks I enjoy racing on.”
What time do you usually pull into Sonoma after you run Milwaukee?
“Man. It’s late. I know in 2006, I only had a couple hours of sleep at the hotel and then we went straight to the track. Of course, you’re sleeping on the airplane as much you can but everybody knows that sleeping on an airplane can be difficult.”
