CLINT BOWYER
No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer plans to bring home more than just the trophy from New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. Bowyer’s Michael Waltrip Racing team races at NHMS on Sunday but it marks his second trip to the “Granite State” in two weeks.
Bowyer visited the Swenson Granite Works in Concord on Sept. 5 to man a crane that lifted a 7,000 pound slab of granite etched with his he 5-hour car’s likeness.
The track planned to donate the rock to Speedway Children’s Charities. But Bowyer said he’d make a donation to the charity if he could put it in front of the Bowyer Community Building in his hometown of Emporia, Kan. The granite will be on display outside the infield tunnel across from the fan zone this weekend before making a trip to its permanent home in Kansas.
Bowyer ranks ninth in the Sprint Cup Series standings with 2035 points, with the same number of points as Ryan Newman. Bowyer trails point leader Matt Kenseth by 28 points with nine races remaining in the Sprint Cup season.
BOWYER ON NEW HAMPSHIRE: “If there is a track on the schedule that I feel we could make up some ground in the Chase – New Hampshire is that track. I’ve won at New Hampshire twice and I love everything about it. The flat short tracks seem to fit my driving style the best and I have had a lot of success there – so we are pretty confident going in. We could use a big week to get back on the right track.”
VISIT TO THE SWENSON GRANITE WORKS: “It was such a great trip over to the Swenson Granite Works. That place is amazing and I’m glad they let us come over for a tour. The granite quarry has been in operation since the 1800s and it’s about a 200 ft. straight drop down from where we were standing to the bottom of the quarry. They even let me operate the crane to pick up a piece of granite. They had the piece engraved with the No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota on it. I thought it was so awesome that I just had to have it for our community building in Kansas. I’ll have some friends pick it up for me after the race this weekend. It’s going to take a really big truck.”
NOTES:
· Bowyer at New Hampshire: In 15 Sprint Cup starts at New Hampshire, Bowyer has two wins, four top-five and six top-10s. Both of Bowyer’s wins at NHMS have come in the fall race. He has an average start of 13th and finish of 15th. He has led 475 laps and won from the pole in the fall of 2007. He has two top-fives in his last three starts at NHMS.
· Bowyer Ranks: In 2013, Bowyer has the highest average finish of any driver to run all races (12.2) and has eight top-five (ranks fourth) and 14 top-10 (tied for third most with six drivers) finishes.
· Chassis: Primary chassis No. 761 finished second at Martinsville and 13th at New Hampshire in July. Backup chassis No. 727 served as a backup several races in 2013, but not raced.
· MWR in 2013: MWR cars have combined for two wins (Truex Jr. – Sonoma; Vickers – Loudon-1), 19 top-five and 34 top-10 finishes. The three-car team has led 657 laps and won one pole award (M. Martin – Phoenix-1). The No. 15 qualified for the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup and is ninth in the standings.
