FANTASY NASCAR Racin

a NASCAR driver. Bowyer began racing at the age of five in motocross. He went on to capture over 200 wins and numerous championships over the next eight years. In 1996, he began racing street stocks at Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kansas, and won the Modified championship there in 2000. In 2002, he began racing in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, posting 9 poles, 12 wins and 32 top-five finishes en route to a second-place finish in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series national point standings. In 2003, Bowyer raced a full season in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division Midwest Series, scoring one top-ten finish in 11 starts. He also would make his first ARCA starts in 2003, and caught the eye of legendary car owner Richard Childress after leading 47 laps and finishing second in his debut at Nashville Superspeedway. After the second-place finish, Richard Childress called Bowyer by phone and offered him a job. Bowyer thought he was joking and hung up on him. Childress called back soon afterward and with a not-too-happy tone he still offered the job to Bowyer. In 2004, Bowyer began by finishing 8th in the ARCA Remax series race at Daytona in the #7 Chevrolet for Gerhart. In 2004 Bowyer began running in the Xfinity Series for Childress, sharing seat time in the #21 Chevrolet with Kevin Harvick. He drove in half of the 34 Xfinity Series races that year, winning one pole and seven top-tens, attaining a season-high 3rd-place finish in the Federated

Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway in June. Bowyer's first full Xfinity season was in 2005, replacing Ron Hornaday in the #2 Chevrolet. He won two poles and two races en route to a second-place finish to repeat-champion Martin Truex, Jr., losing by only 68 points. He also made his Cup debut in the #33 Chevy on April 23, 2005, during the Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. He would start 25th in his #33 Sylvania Chevy. He finished 22nd one lap down. Richard Childress Racing announced on October 15, 2005, that Bowyer would race the #07 Chevrolet full-time in the Cup series, replacing Dave Blaney for the 2006 season. Bowyer began his rookie Cup season with three Top 5 finishes and had a total of eleven Top 10's

that season, with his best finish being a 3rd at California Speedway. He finished 68 points behind Denny Hamlin for NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Bowyer also continued to drive the #2 in the Xfinity Series full-time, winning once and finishing 3rd in points. Bowyer won his first Craftsman Truck Series race in the #46 Chevrolet Silverado fielded by Morgan-Dollar Motorsports at Texas Motor Speedway on November 3, 2006, in his third career Truck start, making his first CTS start that year at Martinsville for Green Light Racing. After starting the 2007 season with a last-lap crash at Daytona (crossing the finish line upside down and on fire as teammate Kevin Harvick won) - (photo on left), Bowyer won the Budweiser Pole position for the Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. He finished the

regular season 9th in points, but was seeded 12th forthe playoff, since race wins determine playoff seeding. Bowyer won his second pole at the Sylvania 300 at Loudon, and two days later went on to win his first Cup race in his 64th start. The win made Bowyer the fifteenth driver to win at least one race in all three of NASCAR's top series. In 2008, Bowyer continued to drive in the Cup and Xfinity Series full-time. Bowyer dominated the late stages of the Daytona 500 but was spun out by Juan Pablo Montoya with 17 laps remaining. On May 3, 2008, Bowyer earned his second Sprint Cup victory, winning the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Speedway. Bowyer led only two laps, going to the front after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch got together with

less than four laps remaining in the race. On August 23, 2008, Bowyer was announced as the driver of the #33 Chevrolet Impala SS for RCR. Casey Mears from Hendrick Motorsports replaced Bowyer in the Jack Daniel's-sponsored car. This move was necessitated by a sponsor's request, as General Mills did not want Mears, who had been driving in the 2008 season for rival cereal maker Kellogg's. On November 15, 2008, Bowyer won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a narrow margin of victory over Carl Edwards of 21 points. Edwards won the race with Bowyer finishing 5th. Bowyer concentrated primarily on the Cup Series in 2009 and drove the #33 Chevrolet Impala to 15th place in the season standings. Bowyer trimmed his participation in the Xfinity series to 12 races, but performed well, winning at Daytona (July 3) and Dover (September

26), finishing in the Top 5 in 6 of the 12 races and notching 8 Top 10s. Bowyer started the Cup season in strong fashion, finishing 4th in the Daytona 500 and 2nd at Las Vegas in the 3rd race of the year. With a 6th in Atlanta and a 5th in Martinsville, Bowyer was 2nd in the overall standings after 6 races. A tough stretch in races 7 through 12 dropped Bowyer down to 17th overall, 109 points behind Mark Martin in 12th place. Bowyer would not qualify for the Chase and end up 15th in points. True to form, Bowyer performed well early in 2010, finishing 4th in Daytona, 7th at Martinsville, and 9th at Phoenix to stand 6th after 7 races. However, at Texas in the Samsung Mobile 500 (race 8), Bowyer got caught in a major crash on lap 317 that wiped out 8 other drivers. Bowyer would win twice in 2010 (Loudon NH and Talladega AL). His wins qualified him for the Chase and he would wind up tenth in

points. Bowyer would get off to a slow start in 2011. He finished 17th at Daytona and followed that with a 27th a Phoenix. Starting with race #5 of the season he would have five races in a row where he would finish no worse than ninth; including second place finishes at Texas and Talladega. He would later win the fall race at Talladega and finish 13th in the points. The 2012 season marked a new beginning for Bowyer as he moved from Richard Childress Racing to Michael Waltrip Racing, signing a 3-year deal. He was also able to bring along sponsor 5 Hour Energy; a sponsor he had until he went to Stewart-Haas racing at the beginning of 2017. In June 2012, at the Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma, Bowyer dominated the race, scoring his first road course and MWR win by holding off Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. At the AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta, Bowyer clinched a Chase berth while suffering

battery issues with his car. He rebounded the following week at the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, winning the race using fuel strategy despite being spun by Juan Pablo Montoya mid-race. Bowyer would get a third win at Charlotte in the Bank of America 500. He finished the season second in the points; getting beat out of the Championship by Brad Keselowski by 39 points. 2013 Bowyer did not post a single win, but consistent finishes had him in a position to make the Chase via points. However, at Richmond International Raceway on September 7, Bowyer became the subject of controversy as, late in the race, audio suggested Bowyer intentionally spun his car to bring out a yellow flag. This happened in the final race before the Chase cut off. Evidence pretty

clearly showed that Michael Waltrip Racing (for whom Bowyer drove at the time) tried to deliberately alter the finish in the waning laps of the race at Richmond; causing both Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon a spot in the Chase while helping Michael Waltrip Racing team mate Martin Truex to advance. Newman was leading the race at the time and looked sure to win; and Gordon was in a position to advance based on points. An ESPN replay that included communications between Bowyer and his team implied the spin was deliberate. After the race Truex and Gordon had tied in points with the tie-breaker going to Truex. After NASCAR reviewed everything Truex was booted from Advancing to the Chase while BOTH Newman and Gordon got a berth. NASCAR docked all three MWR teams,

including Bowyer, 50 driver/owner points. MWR was also fined $300,000. Despite the large penalty, Bowyer retained enough points to remain in the Chase. He had already clinched a spot in the Chase at the Irwin Tools Night Race. The controversy and bad publicity lead to NAPA canceling it's sponsorship of Michael Waltrip's car at the end of the season. 2014 was an off season for Bowyer - he only posted five top 5 finishes and missed being able to compete for the Chase Championship. 2015 was even worse as he only have two top 5 results with a best third at Sonoma. At the end of 2015 Michael Waltrip Racing closed it doors; and at the end of the 2015 season Bowyer went to HScott Motorsports as an 'interim" year. HScott had a new team without a top name driver. Scott was supposed

to get technical assistance from Stewart-Haas Racing; but it was announced during the middle of the 2016 season that Stewart-Haas was switching to Ford. Thus the technical assistance stopped; and it played out that Bowyer was driving for a single car team with no help. Bowyer was only able to post three top 10 finishes in 2016 with a best of 7th at Bristol. He ended up 27th in points. This eventually led to HScott Motorsports shutting down and closing shop at the end of the 2016 season. Bowyer had a miserable season driving for Harry Scott, and as 2016 concluded; Bowyer went to take over the seat at Stewart-Haas vacated by Tony Stewart when he retired at the end of the season. In 2017 Bowyer did see an uptick in his

performance at SHR. He didn't get a win, but he did post three second place finishes. He missed the Chase and finished a disappointing 18th in points. After driving for Stewart-Haas all of 2017, Bowyer got his first win since 2012 in the 2018 season. He grabbed two wins, nine Top 5's and 16 Top 10's. He was in the Chase and was eliminated after round two. He ended up twelfth in the season points. 2019 was a step backwards for Bowyer. He wasn't able to get to victory lane; and only posted seven Top 5's. He did make the Chase via points but once again failed to advance past the second round. Clint ended the season ninth in points. For 2020 Bowyer had a new crew chief as John Klausmeier came over to lead his efforts. The duo were a solid team; but not a winning team. Most finishes were between sixth and fifteenth. He posted a fifth at Phoenix; and a few weeks later nearly pulled off a

win; finishing second at Bristol. During the coronavirus pandemic; Bowyer helpedbroadcast "IRacing" and showed he had a knack for that; and his wide-open personality certainly added to the entertainment value. Bowyer pointed his way into the Chase; and advanced through the first two rounds. A 33rd place finish at Talladega prevented him from advancing further. He ended the season 12th in points. In a surprising more; it was announced when the Chase started that Bowyer would not be back to drive the #14 Ford in 2021. Bowyer's contract was up at the end of the season; and it was not renewed by Stewart-Haas Racing. Xfinity driver Chase Briscoe was winning races in the Xfinity Series at a fast rate; accumulating nine wins before the season ended. Ford Motor Company has been a big supporter of Briscoe for several years; and they were pushing to move Briscoe to the Cup level for 2021. So Briscoe would wheel the #14 in 2021; meanwhile Bowyer was picked up by FOX Sports to be a race announcer in the Cup series starting in 2021. For his career Bowyer ran in 16 seasons running 541 races. He won on ten occasions; had 82 top five and an amazing 226 top ten finishes. He finished second in the points in 2012. He also ran 181 Xfinity races winning eight times and had 67 top fives and won the Championship in 2008. Finally, he ran 14 Truck series events; winning three times and posting nine top five finishes. Some info from WikiPedia

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

CLINTON EDWARD "CLINT" BOWYER - 05/30/1979