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BOWYER, JACK DANIEL'S CHEVY FINISH |
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BOWYER, JACK DANIEL'S CHEVY FINISH STRONG AT HOMESTEAD
BOWYER, JACK DANIEL'S CHEVY FINISH STRONG AT HOMESTEAD
Race: Ford 400 – November 19, 2006
Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, Fla.
Start Position: 10th
Finish Position: 10th
Points Position: 17th
HOMESTEAD, Fla. –
Clint Bowyer and the Jack Daniel's Racing Team rang down the curtain on the 2006
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season in fine fashion with their
11th top-10 finish of the year in yesterday's last call at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Bowyer, who was forced to start shotgun on the field after changing an engine
Saturday afternoon, made a late-race charge and capped off his rookie season with
a 10th-place finish. At the same time, he locked down the 17th spot in the
season-ending NEXTEL Cup championship point standings.
The luck of the draw was finally on Bowyer and company's side in time trials Friday.
The Jack Daniel's Chevy was the 52nd car to make a qualifying attempt and the
late draw proved to be a productive one. The Emporia, Kan., driver lapped
the mile-and-a-half South Florida oval in 30.518 seconds (176.945 mph), turning in the 10th-fastest time of the day.
Good fortune turned to misfortune on Saturday when Bowyer's machine got stuck in
third gear during the weekend's second practice. As he was trying to pull the
shifter out of gear, it accidentally slipped from third gear down to second
as the motor was singing at very high rpms.
As a precautionary measure, crew chief Gil Martin made the decision to change the
No. 07's motor and transmission, forcing Bowyer to drop to the back of the
field, by NASCAR rule, for the start of Sunday's season finale.
On a beautiful Florida afternoon, in front of an estimated 80,000 fans, Bowyer took
the green flag in the 43rd position but snagged eight spots before the day's first
caution flag on lap seven.
Martin knew it would take a not-so-ordinary pit strategy to earn valuable track
position during the early going so he called for just right-side tires and a pair
of chassis adjustments during the team's first pit stop. As many other
competitors opted for four tires, Martin's decision earned Bowyer 11 more positions
on pit road and when the green flag waved again on lap 11, the 27-year-old
NEXTEL Cup Rookie was 24th in the running order – a net
gain of 19 positions from where he started the race.
Bowyer would garner seven more positions over the next 33 circuits until pitting
again during the third caution of the 267-lap race. This time Martin ordered four
fresh tires, including an air-pressure change and another chassis
adjustment, after Bowyer reported his Jack Daniel's Chevy was suffering
from a loose-handling condition during the previous run.
Back under green, still in 17th, Bowyer grabbed three more spots over the following
extended green-flag run, battling the likes of Carl Edwards,
Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Ryan Newman for position.
The majority of the field was forced to pit under green just past the one-third mark
of the race for routine maintenance. Bowyer and company made their third
stop of the day on lap 106 and cycled back through the running order to 16th.
The fourth caution of the day flew just 11 laps later and allowed Martin's keen
strategy to materialize. After having bolted on four fresh tires just a handful of
laps earlier, the veteran crew chief called for only right-side tires, fuel and a
minor chassis adjustment when most other teams took four, subsequently
earning the "Old No. 7 Gang" another eight positions on pit road.
Bowyer raced between sixth and eighth through the middle stages of the race and
advised his team that the No. 07 Chevy was "really, really good."
Caution flag number seven waved on lap 188 and Bowyer peeled off the track two
laps later for tires and fuel. Several teams chose not to pit or for just two
tires so as the field took the green flag on lap 193, the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series championship runner-up was mired deep in 16th.
Portions of the final third of the event were painstaking at best. Bowyer was plagued
by an extremely loose condition and fought just to maintain his
position inside the top 20. Mr. Jack's Pit Crew discovered after their next pit
stop the car's right-rear tire had built up an unexpected amount of air pressure
but were left scratching their collective heads as to why.
After two more pit stops to close out the year's final race, Bowyer continued to fight
the loose condition but never let the challenge slow his drive.
As the laps clicked off, he steadily picked off positions one at a time and when the
checkered flag waved to signal the end of the longest season in
professional sports, Bowyer was 10th in the final rundown.
Greg Biffle won the race followed by rookie classmates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny
Hamlin. Kasey Kahne and Bowyer's RCR teammate Kevin Harvick
rounded out the top-five finishers.
Jimmie Johnson clinched his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Championship beating
Matt Kenseth for NASCAR's crown jewel by 56 points. Harvick finished
fourth in the Chase for the Championship with fellow teammate
Jeff Burton finishing seventh.
Clint Bowyer Quotes:
"It was a pretty good day for us. We struggled a little bit but, in the end, we battled
back for a top 10. I just want to thank all my guys for sticking with me
and everyone at Jack Daniel's and DIRECTV for supporting our program
and sponsoring my rookie season. I think we'll be in good shape to
make a run at the Chase next season. We're going to come out swinging at
Daytona."
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on February 01 2007 15:46:03
Great story!  |
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