“They call them “Motorheads, “Gearheads,” “Grease Monkeys,” or maybe even “Car Geeks.” Inn the same vein as Dale Earnhardt Jr., chances are good that if Clint Bowyer weren’t racing cars, he’d be working on them.
As the story goes, Bowyer was working in a body shop around about 2003 while he was cutting his stock racing teeth in the ARCA series. Impressed by the youngster’s performance at a race Nashville- leading 47 laps and finishing second- Richard Childress gave Bowyer a call at his place of work. Clint thought it was a joke and darn near hung up on him. Fortunately- Childress convinced the Kansan he wasn’t a buddy playing a prank, and he would soon get his break in NASCAR, splitting time in the famous #21 Nationwide (then Busch) Series car- splitting time with Kevin Harvick.
Bowyer lists working on classic cars as a hobby. if you’ve seen TV features about him, then you’ve seen an electic collection of autos dating back to the 1930’s. When Bowyer isn’t polishing up his beauties, he’s racing on his track out on the back of his property.
It wasn’t always about the 4-wheel rides for Bowyer. At 5-years old, he started out racing motocross, much like current NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Over the course of his career, Bowyer won over 200 events and numerous championships around the state of Kansas. The Emporia native got his first taste of racing cars at Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kansas in 1996, driving in the Street Stock class.
By the turn of the 21st Century, Bowyer won the Modified championship. In 2001, Clint turned up his games another notch, capturing 18 wins and 32 top-10 finishes in the Modified Division in Kansas City. 2002 found Bowyer racing in the Dodge Weekly Series- winning track championships at Lakeside and Heartland, plus he captured Midwest Region championship.
Bowyer would move up to the AutoZone Elite Division Midwest series in 2003, racking up a top-10 finish in 11 starts. It was also at this time that Childress would discover Clint in his first ARCA start.
By 2004, at the age of 24, Bowyer found himself in some fast company as he shared the #21 Chevrolet with the Nationwide Series 2nd-winningest all-time driver, Kevin Harvick. In 17 starts, Bowyer registered 4 top 5s, 7 top 10s, and a pole- he won the front position at Talladega.
Like many top drivers, Bowyer quickly hit stride. During the 2005 Busch season, Bowyer picked up his first pair of wins- his first at Nashville on June 11, the second came at Memphis on October 22. By now, Clint was piloting the #2 car he drives to this day, taking the wheel from truck series star Ron Hornaday. He finished second to Martin Truex Jr. by a mere 68 points. Along the way, Bowyer checked in with 12 top 5s and 22 top 10s. Bowyer also earned poles at Pike’s Peak and Fontana.
Bowyer would also make his Cup debut, finishing 22nd at Phoenix in the April 23rd race of that year. Dave Blaney’s #07 team was struggling, so Childress decided to make a change by promoting Bowyer to take over the Jack Daniels’ ride from the former World of Outlaws champion in 2006.
Bowyer was a busy boy in 2006, running full schedules in Cup and Nationwide Series racing, and even running a handful of starts in the Craftsman Truck Series. Bowyer was winless at NASCAR’s top level in his rookie season, however his 4 top 5s and 11 top 10s were good enough to place Clint 17th in the final standings, pursing a cool $4.5 million- I’m guessing that pays a little better than the body shop. In the Nationwide, Bowyer placed 3rd in the points- picking up a win at Fontana over Labor Day weekend. In his first truck start, Bowyer drove the #46 Jack Daniels’ ride to a win at Texas racing for the Morgan- Dollar organization.
Sparks flew for Bowyer at the beginning of the 2007 season. The young gun finished the Daytona 500 on the roof of his car while teammate Kevin Harvick edged out veteran Mark Martin. Fortunately, Clint’s luck was a little better shortly down the road, winning his first Cup pole at Darlington. On the Nationwide level, Bowyer earned wins at Phoenix and Richmond, while showing off for BB&T and Camping World. By the time the Chase began, Bowyer had not yet won a race, but ran consistently enough to be 9th in the standings, thus earning a chase spot. Bowyer celebrated by picking up Cup career win #1 at New Hampshire. He almost won in his native Kansas in a controversial finish where Greg Biffle was running out of gas on a green/white/checkered finish. By season’s end, Bowyer wound up 3rd in the standings behind Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Bowyer also ran races for Kevin Harvick in the CTS.
The 2008 season got off to an unspectacular start for Bowyer, but things started looking up for the “07″ when he capitalized on that infamous late collision between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch to win at Richmond. Once again, Clint ran consistently enough to make the Chase and a 5th place finish at season’s end. Bowyer could be spectacular at times, ordinary at others, but all told- he made 7 top 5s, 16 top 10s, and no DNFs for a second consecutive season.
The crowning achievement for Bowyer’s career came in this season’s Nationwide Series. Bowyer won at Bristol, plus he picked up 15 top 5s and 29 top 10s en route to a season title- just ahead of Carl Edwards.
During the 2008, Richard Childress announced his intention to sign Casey Mears to start a 4th NASCAR Sprint Cup team. Childress will put Mears in the #07, while Bowyer will take the wheel of the #33 car. On the hood of Bowyer’s new ride will be the brands of General Mills, seen for the last several years on the #43 car at Petty Enterprises.
Besides working on cars, Bowyer enjoys boating. He was born in Emporia, Kansas on May 30, 1979. Clint is single, but dated Athena Barber earlier this year.
