Hoping Irish Eyes Will Be Smiling
CORNELIUS, N.C. — The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Michigan International Speedway this weekend. Located in the Irish Hills, the 2-mile track is known for its high speeds. Clint Bowyer brings his No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota to the 1,400-plus acre facility looking for a win.
Bowyer and several other drivers know it’s crunch time. With just four races remaining to decide the field for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Bowyer sits 16th in the 16 driver field. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver knows that consistent finishes will go a long way to solidifying his spot in the field. However, maybe Irish eyes will be smiling this weekend and Bowyer will solidify his chances by driving to victory lane.
What’s getting around Michigan like?
“Well it’s a real fast track so you want to have some horses pulling your car. And aero is big there too. We had a decent run going last time. Fuel mileage seems to be a factor a lot of times at the end of the race so you have to be on it as far as strategy and Brian Pattie always does a good job of that.”
What do you need to do these final four races?
“Win, plain and simple. But if we don’t, we just need to keep focused on not making mistakes. A lot can happen and a lot of that is somewhat out of our control so we just need to focus on this 5-hour ENERGY team and do what we have to, knocking off good finishes if we don’t get that win.”
Crew Chief Brian Pattie:
What do you need to have a good run at Michigan?
“We typically have good runs at Michigan. We ran up front for most of the race in June and got a top 10. I think we’ll be just as competitive this time too. Track position is a big key to getting a good run. If we can maintain that and make sure we execute on everything from strategy to pit stops we should be fine.”
CHASSIS
Chassis No. 813 serves as the primary chassis for Bowyer at Michigan. This chassis raced at Michigan in June where Bowyer finished 10th and Charlotte in May where he finished 17th. Chassis No. 804 serves as the back-up chassis and finished 12th at Darlington and 15th at Bristol earlier this year.
Crew Chief
Dave Collins
Front Tire Changer
Richard Coleman
Front Tire Carrier
Lee Cunningham
Rear Tire Changer
PJ Briody
Rear Tire Carrier
Brian Chase
Jack Man
Evan Marchal
Gas Man
Billy Curwood
Car Chief
Chris Sherwood
Interior Mechanic
Brett Griffin
Spotter
Dax Gerringer
Race Engineer
Tim O’Brien
2nd Engineer
Adam Cooke
Shock Specialist
J.D. Frey
Front Mechanic
Travis Stock
Rear Mechanic
Andrew Beason
Tire Specialist
Gregg Huls
Engine Tuner
Chris Valverde
Engine Engineer
Ray Erwin
Truck Driver
Jeff Shano
2nd Truck Driver
MICHIGAN STATS
· One top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 17 starts
· Completed 3,290 of 3,339 laps (98.5%) and has led 27 laps
· Average start 18.2 and average finish 15.1
· One DNF (did not finish) – August 2006
