IN THE COCKPIT: Clint Bowyer

Sprint Cup

IN THE COCKPIT: Clint Bowyer - Back To ‘Dega

What happened Sunday at Las Vegas made our not-so-spectacular weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway feel so insignificant...

Clint Bowyer | Posted October 20, 2011 Talladega, AL

Clint Bowyer (33) leads Michael Waltrip (15) in the Sprint Cup Series' April 17 race at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers go out to Dan Wheldon’s wife, two children, family and friends and the entire IndyCar Series family. What a tragic loss. Even if you’d never met Dan, you could tell by watching and listening to him that he was a great guy who was loved by many.

I think we all get so accustomed to feeling safe and secure in our race cars that we drivers almost take our safety for granted. It’s been so long since we’ve had to say goodbye to a driver in NASCAR or in IndyCar, so it’s almost like Dan’s death sucker-punched everybody. Most of us were glued to our television sets Sunday, hoping and praying he was going to be OK, but knowing deep down it didn’t look good.

No, Dan didn’t compete in NASCAR, but we all feel his loss. We all share that sense of community and camaraderie as competitors, and it hurts like hell when one of us doesn’t walk away from an accident. My heart goes out to everyone affected by Dan’s death.

What happened Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway made our not-so-spectacular weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway feel so insignificant. The No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet team had a bit of a rough weekend. As much as we all talk about how we love sleeping in our own beds during the week of the Charlotte race, I’ll be glad to get back on the road this weekend.

We didn’t qualify too well on Thursday night and then the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet got really loose on me late in Friday’s Happy Hour session. We probably should have just called it a day early because I ended up slapping the wall pretty hard. So, the guys had to roll out the backup car. That is not what you want to see late in the final practice, especially at a track where your organization as a whole has struggled more than succeeded. We ended up 24th on Saturday night and were ready to get the heck out of Charlotte.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to redeem ourselves this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. We should have a much better showing, assuming we can avoid “the big one.” Talladega has been pretty good to me and to RCR as a whole. I got my first NASCAR pole there back in April 2004 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in my third NASCAR start. I also won last October’s race and my teammate Kevin Harvick finished second. Then the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet led 38 laps in the April race but Jimmie Johnson just inched us by 0.002 seconds in a four-wide finish. That was an awesome last couple of laps and we almost pulled it off again. But almost never counts, especially when you’re battling Jimmie.

For those keeping track at home, Richard Childress Racing has 99 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories to its credit. I’m thinking it would be pretty cool for the No. 33 team and me to give Richard his 100th Cup win before we go our separate ways at the end of the year. He has given so much to this sport and helped bring along so many drivers like me. Richard’s had great success at Talladega, so this weekend would be a good opportunity for him to add to that tally.

NASCAR just recently announced some rule changes at Talladega that are intended to break up the two-car tandems. Whether or not that will work remains to be seen, but I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. I think it’s a step in the right direction because lots of fans voiced their dislike of the two-car tandems earlier this year. It doesn’t matter what us drivers think because the fans are the ones paying to watch the show and we should do everything we can to give them what they want. I really don’t know what to expect and I’m curious to see how it all plays out. But if you’re looking for some sort of prediction from me, I think I’m pretty safe in saying it will be exciting. Hell – it’s Talladega.

Finally, I want to say congratulations to Ty Dillon and the No. 41 RCR team for winning the ARCA Racing Series championship. What an awesome accomplishment for Ty in his rookie year. I’ve known Ty since I joined RCR and I’d say the kid has a very bright future next season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. If you want to pull for a winner, start cheering for Ty.

Clint Bowyer returns to the seat of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet Impala for Richard Childress Racing for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Bowyer has qualified for the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup in three of the last four years, finishing 10th in 2010 with two wins, seven top-five and a career-high 18 top-10 finishes. He finished the 2007 season third in points and the 2008 season fifth, and won the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship for RCR. The 31-year-old was named driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for RCR in 2006 and finished runner-up in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings on the strength of four top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. The Kansas native caught the eye of Richard Childress after leading 47 laps en route to a runner-up finish in his ARCA Racing Series debut at Nashville Superspeedway in 2003. Bowyer won the 2002 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Midwest Region championship and two NASCAR Dodge Weekly track titles in 2002. He also fields a full-time dirt late model team under the Clint Bowyer Racing banner with drivers Dale McDowell and Jared Landers. For more information on Bowyer or his RCR team, please visit the following; Twitter account: @RCR33CBowyer,
http://www.rcrracing.com, http://www.cheeriosracing.com, http://www.clintbowyer.com.