It’s funny, but even though Clint Bowyer is coming off a season a year ago in which he finished third in NASCAR’s final Chase standings, he still feels like the new kid in the ol’ boys club from time to time.
Then again, things are getting a little easier for the 28-year-old Emporia native.
“I don’t feel like a veteran,” Bowyer said, “but I certainly feel like I’m one of the boys now.”
With the 2008 Sprint Cup season set to begin with Sunday’s Daytona 500, Bowyer is confident but anxious in his third season racing at NASCAR’s highest level.
“You always want to learn from the past and be better,” he said. “That’s a tall order to ask for this year. We had a good year last year. We learned a lot and have come a long ways.”
For sure, last year’s performance cast at least a little bit of the spotlight on Bowyer, especially with the splash he made once the Chase for the Cup began.
After seemingly squeezing into the Chase after a consistent but winless regular season, Bowyer hit it big with a dominating victory in the first race of the Chase at New Hampshire. Bowyer led 222 of 300 laps and defeated Jeff Gordon by 6 seconds to win his first-ever race at NASCAR’s highest level.
The victory vaulted him into the top five of the Chase standings, where he finished behind winner Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
This year, Bowyer would like a repeat of his performance at New Hampshire, though he wouldn’t mind if it came a little earlier in the season. Like, say, Sunday at Daytona.
“I think that’s a big part of having a successful season, is getting things started right, and it all starts here down at Daytona,” Bowyer said. “It is the Super Bowl of our sport. You come down here and you want to win this race more than anything.
“But it’s very important to get out of here with a decent finish so we can get that points race established so you don’t have to race the whole season behind the eight-ball and play catch-up the whole time.”
Bowyer isn’t the only one expecting improvement this season. Richard Childress Racing’s owner, Richard Childress, went above and beyond all other comparisons earlier this month when he likened Bowyer to one of racing’s most dominating figures from the past.
“I don’t think Clint’s even reached his stride,” Childress told ESPN.com’s Mark Ashenfelter in an article on Feb. 5. “I think you’re going to see even more out of Clint this year, and Gil Martin, by them working together. (In Clint), I saw a young man that had a desire to win that reminded me of another driver that I had for quite a few years that started out with nothing and became one of the greatest race drivers, and that was Dale Earnhardt. He probably reminds me of his style as much as anybody I’ve ever seen come along.”
Interestingly enough, Daytona is the track where Dale Earnhardt was perhaps most dominating in his legendary career.
Coincidence?
Bowyer hopes not.
“I feel like we’ve made our race team better,” he said. “Now, has everybody else done the same thing or done a better job? Only time will tell. That’s the hardest thing. Is your hard work that you put in going to be enough?”
Most of Bowyer’s hard work in the offseason came in the form of continuing to get familiar with the Car of Tomorrow, which will become the car of today as it moves into full-time use on the Sprint Cup circuit this season.
Most of the testing he and his crew did with the COT dealt with the braking system, as well as becoming comfortable on NASCAR’s bigger tracks.
“We’ve made significant gains as far as technology with this car in the offseason,” he said. “We’ve tested short tracks — we’ve tested our brake packages for the short tracks a lot over the offseason. We felt like that was something that was really holding us back last year.
“The bigger tracks, that window of opportunity with this car is so small, there’s just not a whole lot you can do. We’ve only been able to test Vegas and California on a mile-and-a-half track, so there’s still a lot of work to be done there and a lot to learn about these cars.”
It all starts with Daytona this weekend, a track that gave Bowyer the headlines for a different reason last year.
Bowyer got caught up in a late-race wreck that resulted in him crossing the finish line on his hood, sparks and flames shooting everywhere.
“Needless to say, I’d rather not do that again,” Bowyer said with a laugh.
Comments
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Posted by hawks422 (anonymous) on February 15, 2008 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Clint Bowyer is a shine of light for a community that is enduring a low point... I wish Clint the best of luck and hope he can getter done at Daytona, good luck Team Bowyer!
Posted by justthinkin (anonymous) on February 15, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good Luck Clint & Thank you for the good times you bring to my family. We enjoy watching you race.
Posted by neighbor (anonymous) on February 15, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good luck this season Clint, Gil and crew.
Be safe out on the road Curtis.
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