Monday, January 11, 2010

Clint Bowyer

Clint Bowyer was born on May 30th, 1979, in Emporia, Kansas.

Bowyer began racing at the age of five in motocross in 1984.

Clint went on to capture over 200 wins and numerous championships in motocross between 1984 and 1992.

In 1996, Bowyer began racing in the Street Stock division at Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kansas, and in 2000 he won the Modified championship there.

Bowyer picked 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, he finished second place in the 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.

In 2003, Bowyer raced a full season in the NASCAR 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 driving for Bobby Gerhart.

In 2004, Clint began his season by finishing 8th in the ARCA Remax series race at Daytona in the #7 Advanced Chevrolet for Bobby Gerhart. In 2004 Bowyer began running the NASCAR Busch (Nationwide) 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 gaining four top-fives 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 with sponsorship from Monaco Coach. Bowyer made two starts for Bill McAnally in the Camping world west series in the #20 Chevrolet. In his two starts at Phoenix & Auto Club speedway he won one pole and had a best finish of 2nd.

Bowyer's first full Busch (Nationwide) 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. He only lost the championship to repeat-champion Martin Truex Jr., losing by only 68 points. He also made his NEXTEL (Sprint) 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 (sprint) 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 the Rookie of the Year honor. Bowyer also continued to drive the #2 in the Busch (Nationwide) Series full-time, winning once and finishing 3rd in points. He started his first ever race in the Craftsman Truck (Camping World) truck series at Martinsville for green Light Racing and won his first Truck race at Texas in the #46 Jack Daniel’s Chevy fielded by Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in only his third start.

In only his sophomore year in the Cup series he ended up on his roof in the 2007 Daytona 500. At Richmond before the Chase for the Cup started he was 9th in points, and after it started he was seeded 12th due to him having no wins that year. In the first race of the chase at Loudon, New Hampshire, he won his second ever pole, and two days later he won his first ever NEXTEL (Sprint) cup race in only his 64th start; he ended up a career best 3rd in points that year. He also ran a partial schedule in RCR’s #2 BB&T Chevy in the Busch (Nationwide) series, he won two races. He also ran a partial schedule in the truck series with Kevin Harvick Inc.

In 2008, Bowyer continued to drive in the Cup and Nationwide Series full-time. 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. At the end of the season RCR announced Clint would be driving the #33 General Mills Chevy and Casey Mears would drive his old #07 in 2009. The reason they did it that way was because General Mills didn’t want Casey because he drove for Kellogg at Hendrick Motorsports previously. He won the Nationwide championship that year over Carl Edwards only by 21 points.

On May 6, 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”

The beginning of 2009 was a little bit of a challenge as he had to qualify for the first five races on speed, due to his new team not having any previous championship points; he overcame that challenge to finish in the top 10 5 times in the first 7 races. He also drove the #29 Holiday Inn Chevy in the Nationwide series.

Clint currently resides in Clemmons, N.C.

http://www.rowdy.com/content/browse/driver/8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Bowyer

http://www.racingone.com/driver.aspx?driverid=2166&seriesId=1