Around the Track: Vegas

Bowyer says LVMS race will be much better than Fontana

Nextel Cup rookie Clint Bowyer is eighth in points after finishing sixth at Daytona and 14th at California.

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Now he heads to Las Vegas, where in his only Busch Series start a year ago he finished ninth.

In Jack Daniel's "Around the Track,'' Bowyer addresses each week's venue as well as his philosophies on racing and life in general around NASCAR.

It's been a crazy ride these last few weeks.

After the Daytona 500 I got to go to New York City and meet most of the cast of The Sopranos. It was my first trip to New York City and it was neat to go on set with those guys, to see where they film all the famous scenes, to see that it's all just a homemade fake house. It's an eye opener.

And what you see on TV is what you get with those guys. I told them they didn't have to find actors to play their parts, that they were real-life mobsters who happened to have cameras on them.

They were a lot of fun. I didn't get to be in any scenes, though. I haven't come that far.

Then at California I got to meet Jewel. Just to hear her story and how she made it, that's the American dream. It's no different than where I was a few years ago, just trying to somehow get that one chance. It's a good feeling to know how it feels to get that opportunity and make the best of it and make your dream come true.

Not to mention she's an attractive girl.

Then it was to Mexico City last weekend for the Busch Series race. I got recognized by a few people. At least I think they recognized me.

Now we're going to Las Vegas, where we had a really good test. We've got a lot of momentum building and we've surprised a lot of people. Richard Childress Racing as a whole has surprised a lot of people. My teammate Jeff Burton has been running well, and Kevin Harvick is running good.

I'm real excited about the chemistry we all have, drivers and crew chiefs. It's a breath of fresh air for these guys on the car to just be running good. They got beat up pretty bad last year and didn't get the finishes they deserved. It's good to see a pep in their step and a smile on old Richard Childress' face. It's been a while.

The track at Vegas gets slick. As it warms up it's real temperature sensitive. But it's a fairly simple track. You carry quite a bit of speed into Turn 1 and you've just got to get a good balance on your car.

Inside the Numbers The top average running positions in the '05 Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Pos. Driver Avg. 1. Ryan Newman 3.086 2. Greg Biffle 3.794 3. *Jimmie Johnson 4.491 4. Kurt Busch 4.629 5. Kyle Busch 6.603 6. Jeff Gordon 8.846 7. Joe Nemechek 9.007 8. Travis Kvapil 10.307 9. Kevin Harvick 11.772 10. Tony Stewart 12.277 * -- Race winner

Between 3 and 4, it's got a bump in it that you've got to be careful of. If you hit with two much wheel in it you can get messed up.

It's a big track and a lot of fun to race on, but it's not so big that you can't get anything done.

The racing definitely should be a little more exciting than California. That was about as much fun in the car as it was in the stands watching that deal. You're just kind of in your own little world for three-quarters of the race to get to the end and race for the finish.

I won't have much time for the casinos. We had a Jack Daniel's party on Thursday night at the Las Vegas Palm. That was my only excitement. I got all of that other stuff out of the way during testing because we had some time to kill down there.

But I like three-card poker and blackjack. I like table games. I get bored with pulling the old handle. There's a lot of fun at Vegas to be had, but when we're here for the race it is all business.

For the fans it's different. It's kind of strange knowing people are there betting on races. I've never had anybody bet on me. Hopefully, before too long they'll be putting some bets on me.