Keep Up With O7 in the Chase

Jack Daniel's Chevy 12th in New Hampshire
Race: Sylvania 300
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, N.H.
Start Position: Fifth
Finish Position: 12th
Points Position: Ninth

LOUDON, N.H. – Clint Bowyer and the Jack Daniels Racing team kicked off the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup with a solid 12th-place finish in Sundays Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Despite struggling with handling woes and a few hiccups on pit road, Bowyer and his Gil Martin-led team stayed on task to come away with a respectable showing. While the Emporia, Kan., driver slipped from fifth to ninth in points, Bowyer is still just nine points behind Kyle Busch, who fell from first to eighth, 10 back from Tony Stewart in seventh, 11 behind Denny Hamlin in sixth and 33 in arrears of Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton in fifth.

For the second week in a row and seventh time this season, rain washed out qualifying and the 43-car field was set based on points. After the sanctioning body reset the top 12 in points following last weekends race in Richmond, Bowyer was awarded a starting spot on the inside of the third row to coincide with being the fifth-seed in NASCARs 10-race playoff system.

Optimism was high for Bowyer and Company all weekend with the Jack Daniels Chevy being shown atop the speed sheet in all three practice sessions.

The green flag waved just before 2:30 p.m. local time under ominous skies and Bowyer moved up from fifth to third in the opening five laps. He raced as high as second but fell back to fifth before NASCAR waved the first yellow flag of the afternoon on lap 35 to give teams a chance to assess tire wear after rain soaked the area that morning.

The two-time Sprint Cup Series winner informed his team the Jack Daniels Chevy was suffering from a loose-handling condition exiting the corners and, in turn, Martin called for air pressure adjustments to all four new Goodyear tires during the ensuing pit stop.

Back under green on lap 40, now in 10th after several teams opted for only two tires during their stops, Bowyer was up to eighth on lap 44, seventh on lap 45 and back to eighth on lap 80 where he raced until the second yellow waved three circuits later.

Following another trip to the service lane for tires, fuel and chassis adjustments, Bowyer was ninth for the lap 88 restart. He ran in and just outside the top 10 during the next 69 laps but continued to struggle with a loose-handling machine.

Green-flag pit stops were underway just past the halfway mark and once the entire field cycled through their respective trips to pit road, Bowyer was 12th in the running order. He was back in 10th with 120 laps to go but the continued loose condition hampered his forward progress.

The third yellow flag of the day waved on lap 214 and Bowyer made another hard left to the pits for his fourth stop of the day. Again, Martin called for a fresh set of Goodyears, including air pressure adjustments to both rear tires, and a chassis adjustment to try and offer his driver a leg up on the competition.

Still, the third-year Sprint Cup driver wasnt able to gain any ground on the leaders and he was 10th when NASCAR displayed the red flag for a five-car incident coming off turn four.

The field went back to green following a 10-minute hiatus and during the next 17 laps, the Jack Daniels Chevy swung from loose to tight.

The fifth caution waved 34 laps from the checkers but, with track position at a premium, Martin elected to keep Bowyer on the track to preserve the teams position.

Almost on cue, everyone behind Bowyer chose to pit and had fresh tires for the lap 271 restart, leaving the 29-year-old driver with no where to hide when the field went back to green.

Fresh rubber proved to be king and Bowyer plummeted from 10th to 19th over the next nine laps. Fortunately, another caution provided Mr. Jacks Crew a final trip to pit road and a fresh set of tires, affording their driver new life for the closing 17 laps.

With a new lease on life, Bowyer dug in and gouged his way back to 12th before the checkered flag waved.

Greg Biffle notched his first win of the season and jumped to third in points. Jimmie Johnson was second while Carl Edwards was third and assumed the top spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Burton finished fourth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five. Only two drivers outside the Chase, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr., finished in the top 10.

Bowyers fellow RCR teammate Kevin Harvick was 10th in the final rundown.

Next weekend, NASCARs senior circuit returns to the "Monster Mile" for Round 2 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Flag-to-flag coverage of the Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA from Dover International Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, Sept. 21 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on ABC and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 28th points-paying race on the 2008 schedule will be telecast live on ESPN2 Friday, Sept. 19 beginning at 3 p.m. EDT.

Clint Bowyer Quotes:
"It was a decent day for the Jack Daniel's Chevrolet but, I'll be honest, I'm disappointed to have finished 12th. I think we had better car than that. Our pit strategy didn't work out as well as we hoped. We'll be better next week at Dover."

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