FIREWORKS SHOW
CORNELIUS, N.C. — Friday marks the day the United States officially commemorates our independence from foreign rule. A national holiday, July 4th is celebrated in a number of ways including picnics, parades and in most cases with fireworks.
For more than 50 years NASCAR has marked the occasion by bringing its biggest stars to the World Center of Racing, Daytona International Speedway. Fireworks are sure to fly on and off the track as 43 cars barrel through the 31-degree banked turns vying for top real estate at speeds reaching 200 mph at times.
Bowyer and his No. 15 RK Motors Toyota team know that anything can and typically does happen at restrictor plate races. While he has never won at Daytona, he has posted respectable results, finishing in the top-10 in seven of the 17 races he has run at the track. At Talladega in April, he posted a third-place finish after putting himself in position for the win.
With a fireworks display a guarantee after Saturday night’s race, Bowyer hopes he has a prime spot to watch them- in Daytona’s victory lane.
How does the weather impact the Daytona race in July?
“It does and that is the cool thing about any repave — it’s probably one of the oldest repaves that we’ve had since all this. The worst they are ever going to be is that first race and they just keep getting better and better with age. Certainly, Daytona is no exception. I can remember back in February people were starting to slip and slide around and you heard us complaining about handling issues again — that’s healthy.”
What did you learn from Talladega qualifying to use in Daytona?
“I learned to screw our game plan — we all tried to go out there and help each other. Nine times out of 10 when you over analyze that and try to over think it you don’t get a good result. One of those single car teams or something like that can go out and capitalize on another team trying to do that is always going to prevail. For me, I’m just going to go out there and put a lap down and hang my helmet up and go to the beach and get ready for Saturday night.”
CHASSIS
Chassis No. 811 serves as the primary chassis. It is a new chassis for the 2014 season and has not been raced. Chassis No. 754 serves as the back-up chassis. Bowyer drove this Toyota to a third-place finish at Talladega in April. Martin Truex Jr. also finished 24th in the 2013 Daytona 500 and eighth in the May 2013 Talladega race in this chassis.
DAYTONA STATS
· Three top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 17 starts
· Completed 2,984 of 3.074 laps (97.1%) and has led 150 laps
· Average start 18.1 and average finish 16.4
· Sprint Cup’s ninth-best driver rating (83.5 out of 150)
· Sprint Cup’s fifth-best in fastest laps run (77)
· Sprint Cup’s fourth fastest in average green flag speed (189.524 mph)
· Three DNFs (did not finish)- February 2014, July 2012 and July 2011
-NOTES-
· RK Motors is one of the most innovative collector car retailers in the U.S. Their state-of-the-art, 60,000 sq. ft. showroom has become a destination for serious collectors from all over the world. They have restored some of the most legendary cars to ever prowl the pavement and those cars have gone on to collect trophies at some of the largest car shows in the country. Leading the industry with their consignment and sales program and the RKM Performance Center, their core mission is to make buying, selling, maintaining, or building your dream car as simple as possible.
