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NASCAR

Bowyer upbeat entering 2009 despite changes

By SceneDaily.com

Jan 12, 2009

For the past two seasons, Clint Bowyer has been one of the drivers to watch in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and despite changing crews and teams within the Richard Childress Racing organization entering 2009, he and his group see no reason to expect any less.

Bowyer, a 29-year-old Kansas native who spends his spare time racing on dirt tracks, will team with Shane Wilson, a 40-year-old Vermont native, for the first time in the Cup ranks this year as Bowyer moves from the No. 07 he has driven for three years to the organization's new full-time entry, the No. 33. Former Hendrick Motorsports driver Casey Mears is moving into the No. 07.

Can Bowyer and Wilson replicate the driver's past level of success that has seen him finish third and fifth in the final Cup standings in the past two years? They obviously believe in their ability to do just that.

Certainly the team could experience some growing pains, especially since the No. 33 team for which Bowyer now drives is outside the top 35 in owners points entering the season. That means that Bowyer needs to make the opening five races based on qualifying speed if more than 43 cars are entered in the event. For a driver accustomed to going to the track as a contender for the victory in each race, heading there trying to get in the field will likely feel different.

So will working with Wilson. The pair is certainly not strangers to one another, but they have limited experience working in the driver-crew chief capacity. They've actually only shared that role for one Nationwide Series race. But their experience goes beyond that.

The Nationwide teams at RCR operate, in essence, as one. Crew members are shifted around annually as one or another team vies for the title, but the group works together closely, giving Wilson more knowledge of Bowyer. In addition, Wilson has previously been involved with all Nationwide tests, so he's been to the track with Bowyer 15 to 20 times, getting to know the nuances of Bowyer's descriptions of issues on the car.

Will that be enough to help them through the opening stretch? The pair believes it will.

“It’s a big transition," Bowyer admits. "I’ve got a lot of confidence in Shane. I see a lot of good qualities in him that I’m excited about. There’s going to be some growing pains – there’s bound to be – but I really feel like some of his strong points are things that are going to really carry us through in this transition, and that is communication and organization. He’s a methodical person. He’s a good guy to lead this transition, so I’m excited about it.”

While he freely refers to the group as a "start-up team," Bowyer sees experience in his group.

Wilson has built a crew that includes several RCR veterans who are accustomed to contending for championships on an annual basis. "It's been fun," he says, though admitting it's been a "work in progress."

Wilson says that it was an easy decision to "utilize some of our people from our Nationwide shop that have been kind of patiently waiting for this to happen, so basically a lot of inner-company people swapping jobs around, but at the end of the day we still have a few new hires to fill some important holes that we had. But we were able to keep a lot of our employees intact here, and a lot of these guys involved worked together and had success together, so I think it will be good."

It's not just the group from Bowyer's team that won the 2008 Nationwide drivers title but also some from the organization's No. 21 Nationwide team. RCR has won three consecutive titles, either owners or drivers, in that series, so this isn't like pulling up an average group to a higher series.

Now Bowyer and Wilson will find out how all that testing and their lone race together pay off.

The two seem comfortable with one another. Bowyer has been in the shop frequently during the offseason and has cut back to a limited role in the Nationwide Series for this year in an effort to focus more on this Cup effort. He already feels comfortable with Wilson, which should be a bonus for the pair as they enter this season.

Wilson worked as a crew chief for the three races the No. 33 team attempted in 2008 and as recently as the season finale in the Nationwide Series. He's been around Bowyer since both joined the organization in 2006 and is familiar with how he reacts to the car from their testing together.

But it is that race they worked together that gives him the greatest insight into what this season with Bowyer offers.

"You can simulate everything, but when it's under pressure, it's different,” Wilson says. “That's why at least we have had one race together and have worked together in racing situations and RCR Nationwide teams work close together. I feel like we've worked under pressure together. Anybody can go test and get along; that's not a big deal. It's when you're trying to figure out how to get speed in the car and you're 35th on the board, that's when it's hard. That's when you've got to have some good chemistry and believe in each other and everything."

While trying to be realistic about the pitfalls 2009 could offer, both driver and crew chief are aiming to get Bowyer to a third consecutive spot in the 12 driver field for the Chase For The Sprint Cup that decides the championship.

"Basically we're like 43 others," Wilson says. "We have realistic goals to start with, and we've got to become as good as our RCR teammates. That's probably our first goal is to be as consistent as the other teams have been. The second goal is to make the Chase. Once you're in the Chase, it's about winning the championship, and with his record, we would be letting him down if we didn't have any other goals than that."

The biggest obstacle - at least early on - could be making it onto the starting grid. The team will approach race weekends a bit differently in the opening weeks and has worked in the offseason to find the speed needed to make sure that they are locked in after qualifying for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

"There will be some disadvantages not being in the top 35, and [it] just changes our mindset a little bit. Hopefully, all that goes smooth," Wilson says. "We feel confident we'll get in all the races, but you never know. There's things that can happen. We're pretty positive and feel that will take care of itself."

Wilson adds that having some time together in 2008 could aid the team in that endeavor this year.

"I'm very pleased that the 33 team ... went and ran Talladega and qualified well, and we have that exact car that Mike Wallace drove [in that race]," he says. "We have pretty high expectations for Daytona. We'd like to secure our spot with speed, obviously just like the other 50 guys that are going to be there. We've probably been working extra hard to secure a spot with speed at Daytona, so we can go and race the Thursday race [that sets the starting order for 41 of the 43 cars in the field] without having the pressure of having to make the race."

Beyond that, they plan to focus on the racing and on improving week to week. Bowyer is ready to pick up where he left off 2008, a season in which he finished fifth in the standings. Bowyer re-signed with RCR this season, extending his contract with the only team he's partnered with in NASCAR through 2011, and he is obviously confident he can continue to be successful there. So are the people surrounding him.

As team owner Richard Childress looks over his new alignment for 2009, he has faith that Bowyer can once again make the Chase. He, like the team, believes that Bowyer and Wilson will keep the team in contention this season.

"It's going to be really good, because the people with Clint that we're bringing up with him are the ones he's won championships with," Childress says. "Shane Wilson's won championships … We're excited about things, and so are our people.