DPR Sports & Racing News

 

 

Clint Bowyer Looks to "Rope in a Win" at Texas

NASCAR Photo

No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet

Race Notes and Quotes

This Week's Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway ... Clint Bowyer will pilot chassis No. 350 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new No. 33 Chevrolet Impala that will turn its first laps during opening practice on Thursday at "The Great American Speedway".

Career Texas Stats ... The Samsung Mobile 500 marks Bowyer's 188^th NSCS start.

Red and Yellow ... After a four-race hiatus, the familiar Cheerios/Hamburger Helper paint scheme will return to the No. 33 Chevrolet this weekend for the 334-lap event.

Chat with Clint ... Clint will participate in a NASCAR.COM Chat with Miss Sprint Cup, Kim Coon, which will be streamed live to the NASCAR.COM homepage on Thursday, April 7 at 2:45 p.m. CT.  Viewers will have the ability to log-in during the chat and ask Bowyer questions.

Last Time in the Lone Star State ... Bowyer and the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper team backed up their 2010 Talladega win with a strong top-10 effort by finishing seventh in the AAA Texas 500 last November. The finish was the team's third straight top-10 effort in the last three fall races at TMS.

Top 10 in Virginia ... Bowyer and the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet team, riding momentum from a top-10 finish in California the week prior, led 91 laps en route to a ninth-place finish in the Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway after starting from the 15^th position.

Points Racing ... After another solid finish in Martinsville, Bowyer jumped one position, to 16^th, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:

Looking at the stats, you finished seventh in the fall after a rough outing in the spring. That's a ying to the yang there.

"Yeah, we've always run decent in Texas. It's just sometimes things don't workout like you want them to. There's a lot of different things that come into play. Sometimes its fuel mileage and I think we even got caught up in a wreck last year during the spring race. I'm looking forward to going there. It's always a lot of fun."

You debuted at Texas in a RCR Nationwide Series car back in 2004. A lot has happened between then and now. Do you ever think about that when you go to Texas?

"I actually haven't. I used to think about it a lot, but it seems like that was a long time ago. I will never forget that day though. I can promise you that. I was really, really nervous. I was about 10 feet over my head. I qualified high, things were going well and I think I got a little over confident. I had a flat tire. My first actual flat tire in a NASCAR race and I didn't even know it. The car kept getting looser and looser and, finally, I wrecked. The crazy thing was everything was going well and we were a top-10 car. As nervous as I was, I was actually pretty confident that we were going to run well. However, it didn't go very well."

There are times now when you're running 200 mph at Texas. Is that 200 mph different than running 200 mph at Daytona this year?

"Yeah, you pull on the wheel a lot harder getting into turn one than you do at Daytona. Certainly, you get the sensation of speed during qualifying, rolling around in turns one and two."

Can you try to explain to race fans the kind of speed you have there?

"You're going over 200 mph, but when you turn off into the corner, you're turning a pretty sharp turning-radius. The G-forces throw the car and slam it down in the corner up near the banking. It's a pretty wild feeling. You're really getting after it."

When I think of Texas, I think of cowboys. I could picture you being a cowboy and riding around the range. Could you picture yourself riding around on the range in chaps?

"Oh, I've done that before. I've actually gone out on the foothills and rounded up some cattle. I've been on a horse before. All my buddies back home are cowboys and farmers. I've certainly been around animals."

Have you roped cattle before?

"Yes, I can rope."