NOTES:

This Week’s BB&T Chevrolet at Memphis Motorsports Park … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 069 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series stable. Built new last season, this is the same No. 2 Chevy Bowyer drove to Victory Lane in spring 2007 at Phoenix International Raceway and Richmond International Raceway. Additionally, the Emporia, Kan., native raced this car last July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (St. 3 – Fn. 6). The same car also saw action in September 2007 at Richmond (St. 11 – Fn. 33) and again in November at Phoenix (St. 1 – Fn. 3). Most recently, Bowyer raced this car to a third-place finish at Richmond in September. Prior to that, Chassis No. 069 finished eighth this year at Phoenix in April, ninth at Richmond in May and ninth at New Hampshire in June. In nine starts, Chassis No. 069 has recorded two wins, one pole, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes. Memphis Minutes … In three starts at Memphis Motorsports Park, Bowyer boasts one win, one runner-up finish and a fourth-place effort. While he has a less-than-impressive 21.3 starting average, he has bounced back famously in race trim with a head-turning 2.3 finishing average. The six-time Nationwide Series winner has led five times for 195 laps and completed all 761 laps run over those three events. Tennessee Titan … Bowyer has seen the checkered flag at all three Volunteer State race tracks where the Nationwide Series competes. The 29-year-old driver won at Memphis in October 2005, at Nashville in June of the same year and this March at Bristol. Bowyer in the Loop … Average Running Position … According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Bowyer is second to Kyle Busch in the Average Running Position category with an 8.537 ARP. The ARP is derived from taking the sum of a driver’s position on each lap and dividing it by the number of laps run in each race. In three races at MMP, he has notched a 5.529 ARP. Laps in the Top 15 … Meanwhile, the Nationwide Series point leader has spent 5,047 of the 5,561 laps completed this season (90.8 percent) running in the top 15. Driver Rating … Bowyer also enjoys a 105.3 Driver Rating this season – second only to Busch who has competed in just 27 of 31 races in 2008 with a 116.8. The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator. Bowyer enjoys a 134.3 Driver Rating at Memphis. Laps Led … Bowyer has led 658 laps (11.8 percent) in Nationwide Series competition this season, second also to Busch in that category but he leads the Laps Led category at Memphis after pacing the field for 196 circuits. Standing in … Stephen Leicht will be in Memphis this weekend to practice and qualify the BB&T Chevrolet before Bowyer’s arrival on Saturday afternoon. Four to Go … Over the first 31 races of 2008, Bowyer and his Dan Deeringhoff-led No. 2 BB&T Racing team have recorded one win, 12 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes. He boasts a strong 9.4 starting average coupled with an 8.4 finishing average. At the same time, Bowyer has completed all but 26 of the 5,561laps of competition this season. The 29-year-old driver leads second-place Carl Edwards by 196 points in pursuit of his first NASCAR Nationwide Series championship trophy. The Collective RCR … In 31 races this season, RCR-prepared Nationwide Series entries have notched two wins (Bowyer – Bristol1 and Scott Wimmer – Nashville 1), 23 top-five and 49 top-10 finishes. RCR NNS cars have also led 796 laps in 2008 and finished on the lead lap 58 times with five different drivers including Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Leicht and Wimmer. RCR Nationwide Cars in Memphis … In 18 Nationwide Series starts at MMP, RCR boasts three wins, nine top-five and 11 top-10 finishes with six different drivers including Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday Jr., Jay Sauter, Johnny Sauter and Wimmer. RCR-prepared cars have completed 4,358 of 4,530 (96.2 percent) laps run over that stretch and led 486 circuits around the Millington, Tenn., race track. Catch the Cup Race … Following his duties behind the wheel of the BB&T Chevy in Memphis, Bowyer will return to the Atlanta area for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Live coverage of Pep Boys Auto 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised on ABC Sunday, Oct. 26 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for Round 7 in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, Oct. 24 beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. Up to Speed … The Kroger On Track for the Cure 250 from Memphis Motorsports Park will be televised live on ESPN Classic Saturday, Oct. 25 beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 32nd of 35 races on the 2008 schedule for NASCAR’s No. 2 division will be televised on ESPN Classic the same day beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will broadcast qualifying updates live.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES

Has the back and forth part been a little easier this season than it has over the last couple years?

“I think it’s a little easier now because I know what to expect but it still takes a lot out of you. Those are the weekends where you really have to focus on what you’re doing and what car you’re in.”

You’ve won at Memphis, finished second and finished fourth but qualifying hasn’t been so great.

“I went there, I think it was 2005, and we had the fastest car by a long ways. I said, ‘Boys, I’m gonna put this on the pole by a big number. Watch this.’ I went out there with a little too much confidence and I got up on the curb and spun out coming off of Turn 4 and hit the wall. We didn’t back down. We had a fast race car so we beat everything back out, went out there, started dead last and won the race.”

Memphis is the last short track of the season. Are you going to miss the short tracks until next year?

“I am going to miss the short tracks. I enjoy that type of racing. It’s tight racing. You’re rooting and gouging. It’s just as good as racing gets. It’s fun and challenging and everything else that goes along with short track racing. These big, wide-open race tracks are challenging in their own way but to me, it’s not fun unless you’re door-to-door and trying to stay off the guy on the outside of you or trying to give him room on the inside. That’s what racing is all about to me. Making a mistake and having to pay for it or watching another guy make a mistake. You just don’t run a short track 100 percent perfect like you can on a mile-and-a-half. You make mistakes. You might charge the corner too hard. You might slip up and get into a lapped car a little bit. The guy who makes the fewest mistakes usually wins. It’s a lot of fun to race on tight race tracks like Memphis.”

Did you take to Memphis right away?

“I did and I’m not sure exactly why. We went there and tested and were fast right off the bat and went back and won. It’s cool. It’s a fun race track.”

Did you know that you’ve won at Memphis, Nashville and Bristol? That’s every race track in Tennessee where the Nationwide Series races.

“I didn’t know that. I guess I’d never thought about it. Tennessee has been good. Maybe I’ll start racing some dirt cars over there and look for some more tracks.”

You’ve always been very fortunate to have good sponsors like BB&T and Camping World on you Nationwide cars. Do you feel for the smaller teams who might struggle to find sponsors to keep everything going?

“I’m fortunate to be with a good company at RCR and have good sponsors like BB&T, Camping World … Jack Daniel’s and DIRECTV on the Cup side, everyone who supports us. It’s a wonderful opportunity to go out and run well and race for championships with great sponsors. I feel very fortunate.