SEEING PINK
CORNELIUS, N.C. — The Sprint Cup Series doesn’t travel very far from where most of the industry resides this weekend. The drivers and crew visit Charlotte Motor Speedway, a short distance from most of the sports’ race shops.
Because of the close proximity, it’s a race most teams count as one of the principal races to win. Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 Pink Lemonade 5-hour ENERGY to Benefit Living Beyond Breast Cancer Toyota, visited victory lane at the 1.5-mile oval at this race in 2012.
Bowyer was driving a special pink-themed 5-hour ENERGY Toyota then. And with his No. 15 team looking for their first win of the season, there’d be nothing better than seeing pink all over victory lane again.
What’s your outlook going into Charlotte?
“We were good there back in May. We raced our way into the All-Star race and were running pretty darn good in the 600 when we had to come down pit road for a vibration. We were even battling for the lead at one point before that happened. We’re looking for a little luck to come our way and I’m hoping it starts this weekend. Everyone wants to win at Charlotte because it’s where everyone pretty much lives now. We won there a few years ago in the pink 5-hour ENERGY Toyota. I hope we can do it again this weekend. It sure would be nice for us and for everything we’re doing to help Living Beyond Breast Cancer.”
LIVING BEYOND BREAST CANCER
Now through the end of the year, five cents from the sale of every bottle of a limited edition, specially marked pink lemonade flavor of 5-hour ENERGY will go to Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC).
Bowyer debuted a special paint scheme in conjunction with the program last week in Kansas. The scheme also runs this weekend at Charlotte and at Talladega next weekend. The name of someone currently battling or who has survived breast cancer will be featured above the right side window. This week Lynn Folkman, diagnosed in 2009 and a volunteer manager at LBBC, will be featured.
LBBC’s mission is to provide trusted information and a community of support to individuals affected by breast cancer, their families, caregivers and medical professionals.
In 2013, the program with 5-hour ENERGY significantly impacted the organization’s ability to expand the scope of their services and provide thousands of individuals with free educational resources and support services.
CHASSIS
Chassis No. 816 serves as the primary chassis for Bowyer at Charlotte. This chassis raced in Atlanta where a part failure relegated him to a 38th-place finish. Chassis No. 800 serves as the back-up chassis and raced at Kentucky in July (23rd), Dover in June (4th) and Bristol in August (17th).
CHARLOTTE STATS
· One win (October 2012)
· Two top-five and 5 top-10 finishes in 17 starts
· Completed 6,057 of 6,104 laps (99.2%) and has led 116 laps
· Average start 15.3 and average finish 15.6
· No DNFs (did not finish)
BETTER HALF DASH
Clint Bowyer isn’t the only person affiliated with the No. 15 team who’s racing this weekend. Adrienne Pattie, wife of crew chief Brian Pattie, is participating in the Better Half Dash on Thursday evening.
Eleven women, who are the “better halves” of several drivers and crew members in the NASCAR garage are scheduled to race U.S. Legend Cars International Bandoleros around the quarter-mile loop on the frontstretch of Charlotte Motor Speedway to raise money for various charities.
The drivers qualified Monday with Pattie earning the ninth starting spot. However, fans can still help determine the polesitter by visiting www.betterhalfdash.com and donating to their favorite driver. The driver with the most donations will start from the pole position.
The winning driver also will receive $10,000 to be paid to different charities: $2,500 will be donated to Speedway Children’s Charities while another $2,500 will go to Motor Racing Outreach. The remaining $5,000 will be donated to charities of the winner’s choice. Pattie is racing for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
How’s that 5 month baby doing Clint?