Results tagged “Clint Bowyer” from Haddock in the Paddock

Casey Mears will be in the Richard Childress Racing family next year and Clint Bowyer will have a new car.
Mears will be driving the No. 07 Chevrolet for RCR, the car Bowyer currently drives. Bowyer will move into the No. 33 car for the team.
"We're always looking for ways to improve RCR and feel strongly that this driver lineup will improve our company as a whole with our move to four teams next year," said Richard Childress, president and CEO of RCR. "These changes will continue to raise the bar and we have every intention of getting all four teams into the Chase in 2009 with the ultimate goal of one of our teams winning the championship. RCR is very fortunate to have partners like Jack Daniels, Shell-Pennzoil and AT&T, in addition to new sponsors Cheerios, Hamburger Helper and Caterpillar, that work with us and support our making the competition decisions necessary to provide them with the best on-track performance possible."
The No. 07 team will still be backed by Jack Daniels. The No. 33 car will have Cheerios and Hamburger Helper on as its primary sponsors.
Mears, the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, is racing the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He won the Coca-Cola 600 for Hendrick in 2007 and has been racing at the Cup level for seven years.
"This is a great opportunity and I'm honored to become part of both the Jack Daniel's family and the RCR family," said Mears. "Richard Childress and everyone at Jack Daniel's have put a lot of faith in me to continue the winning tradition that's been established by the No. 07 Jack Daniels team over the last couple of years and I look forward to the chance to live up to those expectations."
Bowyer is leading the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings and has two Cup wins in his career with RCR.
"I'm proud to be joining the General Mills family," said Bowyer. "Cheerios and Hamburger Helper are brands my family and I grew up with. General Mills is a great sponsor and has been in NASCAR for many years. I look forward to driving the Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet Impala SS to victory lane.
"At the same time, I have to thank Jack Daniels for taking a chance on a rookie Cup Series driver and giving my career a great platform to build on. My focus now is to get into the Chase and again compete for the championship."
The Sporting News is reporting that Mears has signed a three-year deal with RCR. Since he is driving the No. 07 car, he will inherit the owners points for the car next season. That means Mears is guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races of the year next season if Bowyer put the No. 07 car in the top 35 in owners points, which is all but certain.
Bowyer gets put in the difficult position of racing for a new team, and not having a guaranteed starting spot in races. He will have to race his way into the first five races of the year and have his car in the top 35 in the owners standings before the sixth race.
Given Bowyer's track record over the past two years in Cup, that shouldn't be a problem. Still, he'll be racing without a safety net to start the season.

After getting his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win and making the Chase for the Sprint Cup last year, Clint Bowyer sets his sights on a Daytona 500 victory.
Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR

Clint Bowyer was last year's surprise of the Chase. The only driver to qualify for the Chase without a win, Bowyer vaulted into championship contention by winning the race at New Hampshire International Speedway, the first race of the Chase.
He didn't win again, but he never completely dropped out of contention either.
He became a fan-favorite during the Chase, and even earned the accolades of track owner Humpy Wheeler at one point.
Wheeler said Bowyer is the type of driver NASCAR needs to attract its core audience again.
“Obviously, somebody who is as successful as he is and who has been around as long as he has, says something, it’s comforting and gratifying. But I’m just a kid from Kansas who is getting paid to do what he loves to do," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "I love racing. I’d race every day of the week if I could – probably more on dirt than asphalt. But given the opportunity, I’m not going to turn it down."
Bowyer might be one of the most down-to-earth drivers in Cup. What is for certain, he is one of the few Cup drivers who does not own a tie. He apparently needed to buy a tie and a suit for the NASCAR awards banquet last year.
"My PR guy told me I had to go get a suit for the banquet and all the media stuff in New York," Bowyer said. "So I went and got a suit and I think I wore the tie one time and I had to have him come tie it.”
Richard Childress Racing, which also has Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton as drivers, was the only team to have all of its drivers qualify for the Chase. Bowyer finished highest in the standings among the three. The team will only get stronger this year after joining forces with Dale Earnhardt Inc. on their engine program.
"There are a lot of changes going on, especially with the engine department," Bowyer said. "And I really feel good about the changes Richard has made. I think that’s only going to be a positive in the future. It’s going to take a little time, but it’s going to be a good thing for not only our shop, but for DEI also. I’m excited about the future of the engine shop and about our future."