Around the Track: Pocono Raceway

Bowyer ready to put in the miles both on the track and in the air

Nextel Cup rookie Clint Bowyer finished 17th in first trip around Dover International Speedway in NASCAR's top series.

He dropped a spot to 16th in the standings and fell 173 points out of the top 10 that are guaranteed a place in the Chase.

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Now he heads to Pocono Raceway for his first Cup experience on the 2.5-mile track. He also heads into the most grueling part of his season driving full time in the Cup and Busch series, which are at different locations the next three weeks.

Bowyer: I've never woken up and not known where I was -- not without the help of friends -- but if ever there was going to be a time it would be the next month.

I'll be flying and driving more miles the next three weeks than a trip around the world.

From what the PR department at Richard Childress Racing told me I'll log 25,781 miles [the distance around the equator is 24,781 miles] with the next three Nextel Cup and Busch series races in different cities.

I also have a trip to Sonoma, Calif., to get a look at the road course at Infineon Raceway, so this definitely is the busiest stretch of the season.

This is my first attempt at running both series at different tracks. NASCAR kind of put all of our eggs in one basket, putting them all in one month to get them out of the way.

If everybody on the team can get through this month and still be able to talk to one another, we'll be fine.

It's been suggested I look at getting my own plane like a lot of other drivers. Uncle Kevin's plane [the plane of RCR teammate Kevin Harvick] is pretty nice right now.

Credit: Autostock

Clint Bowyer 2006 Nextel Cup stats Track St. Fin. Laps Status Daytona 37 6 203 running Fontana 32 14 251 running Las Vegas 20 15 270 running Atlanta 16 27 324 running Bristol 27 29 495 running Martinsville 42 22 496 running Texas 12 19 333 running Phoenix 8 5 312 running Talladega 15 40 16 crash Richmond 20 10 400 running Darlington 3 23 365 running Lowe's 15 19 399 running Dover 22 17 400 running MORE ABOUT CLINT •   10 Questions: Clint Bowyer

I really don't have time for my own plane or to get a pilot's license. It's time to concentrate on what I'm doing on the track and making sure I have some sort of a hope for that championship Chase.

Fortunately, the PR department has done a really good job of getting the logistics down to make it possible for me and Kevin to do this.

It's going to be fun, I hope. It's going to be busy, but you've got to make it fun and worth your while.

From what I understand, we'll run both practices and qualify at Pocono on Friday and bail for Nashville, Tenn., where they're running the Busch race. We'll have a helicopter pick us up there and head to the track and hopefully make qualifying.

It'll be interesting to see how we stand up having never made a lap. That'll be fun and nerve-wracking.

Thank goodness I've got somebody to keep the schedule straight. I'm not sure I could do that on my own.

A lot of people might think all the extra travel is a distraction, but it will help us be more focused.

I need to be focused because two of these tracks -- Pocono and Infineon --- are tracks I've never been on before. It's going to be hard to get enough practice in to run good and not let the Busch deal take away from the Cup Series.

We've been doing really good in both series and want to keep our points up in both.

I'm watching film and doing all I can to learn tidbits about the tracks that are new to me. But mostly you kind of have to rely on experience and my crew chief, Gil Martin.

That's the benefit of pairing a veteran crew chief with a rookie driver. If I get in unfamiliar territory he can bail me out and give me good advice.

It also helps to have two good teammates, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, to talk to. I'm looking forward to using all the resources that are available.

Pocono is going to be interesting. It's a very difficult racetrack, or so everybody says, especially for 500 miles. I went up there and made some laps in what basically was a driving school car.

It wasn't very fast, but it helped me get familiar with the track and how long the straightaways are.

Stretches like this make you feel more like a rookie. This is going to be an important month for all of us that are running both series, especially the rookies.

You can't let yourself get tired, get beat down. If you have a bad run you've got to get right back up and pull it together.

It's a month that can make you or break you and set the tone for the last half of the year.