No. 15 RK Motors Toyota Camry
Atlanta Motor SpeedwayCORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 15 RK Motors Toyota Camry driver Clint Bowyer heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for this weekend’s 500-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Bowyer secured his second consecutive Chase berth with Michael Waltrip Racing at Bristol last weekend.
Bowyer and the No. 15 team aim to earn as many bonus points as possible through wins in the next two weeks. Leaving Watkins Glen two weeks ago, Bowyer trailed point leader Jimmie Johnson by 75 points. He’s cut the deficit to 18 points with two races to go in NASCAR’s regular season.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: “Heck yes I want to catch Jimmie Johnson before we head into the Chase. I know it doesn’t count for anything extra, but any time you can beat Jimmie Johnson in this series – that means something. It’s a confidence booster and a pride thing … he’s shown that he is one of the best this sport has ever seen and I want to beat him every single chance I get. We’ve made up a lot of points on him the last few weeks and if we can beat him the next two weeks we might, just might be able to pass him in points and win the regular season.
“I know the points reset after Richmond and we’re going to be chasing after Jimmie, Matt Kenseth and a bunch of other guys again, but I have two races to score some bonus points and you can bet that Brian (Pattie) and I are going to do everything we can to score some bonus points before this thing gets going. We have two freebies – two chances to throw caution to the wind and go get some points – and you can bet we’re going to take our shots. We won at Richmond last year and we’re trying some new things at Atlanta, so we are going to take our best pieces and see what we can do to get on the board.”
ATLANTA: “Atlanta is going to be a wild card race heading into the Chase. Goodyear is bringing new tires and I don’t know if anyone knows what exactly to expect. Martin Truex and the No. 56 team took part in the Goodyear tire test at Atlanta in June and we think we have a pretty good handle on it, but you never know until you get there and unload how that will work out exactly.”
NOTES:
· Locked In to the Chase: The No. 15 team secured its berth in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup with a 14th place finish last Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bowyer ranks second in points trailing leader Jimmie Johnson by 18 points with two races remain before the start of the Chase.
· Autograph Session: Bowyer will sign autographs at the Michael Waltrip Racing merchandise hauler, located in the fan midway, on Sunday at 4 p.m.
· Testing: Bowyer tested at Chicagoland Speedway on Monday and Tuesday the second of their four NASCAR allowed test dates.
· Let’s Go Streaking! Bowyer has finished 20th or better in every race since Fontana – a streak of 19 races. The next longest current top-20 streak by any other driver is five by Joey Logano.
· Chassis: Primary chassis 777 finished 20th at Indianapolis. Backup chassis No. 724 has served as a backup several races in 2013, but not raced.
· Teammate News: MWR announced on Aug. 19 that Brian Vickers will drive the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine in 12 of the final 13 races of 2013. Michael Waltrip will drive the No. 55 at Talladega Superspeedway. Vickers also will drive the No. 55 in all 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2014 and again in 2015.
