Around the Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway

Nextel Cup rookie Clint Bowyer finished 35th last week at Talladega Superspeedway after getting caught up in a big crash for the second time this season at the 2.66-mile track.

It was his first finish out of the top 10 in three weeks, dropping him two spots in the points to 18th.

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Now he heads back to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, where he was 19th in the Coca-Cola 600 in May.

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.

I'm at war with my lawn.

I'm trying to get grass to grow in my yard for a while now, so I've been looking forward to being home for a week with the next race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

I don't understand this grass-growing process. I think you ought to be able to stand there and hold the water hose on it and watch it grow. I'm not a very patient person, I guess.

I've got a sprinkler system, but I can't get the dang grass to grow fast enough. My girlfriend keeps giving me a lot of trouble about the yard, saying the best thing I can do is go to the track and leave it alone.

But I'm constantly screwing with it. It's a battle you can't win.

I'm about to the point to get sod. I'll probably jack with it for another two weeks, until it's too late to put down. That's kind of the way I do things.

I guess it's kind of fitting I have trouble with grass since I come from dirt. That's dirt racing.

Last weekend was pretty special. I was in the garage at Talladega Superspeedway when legendary driver Red Farmer asked if I would come over to the local dirt track and run a little match race with him and some of the guys.

I said, "Heck, yeah!'' Dale McDowell was standing with him and said I could drive his car. I knew that was good equipment, so that made it even better.

Red's unbelievable. He's 74 years old and still competing. And I don't mean he's just back there riding around in the back because he's old and everybody feels sorry for him. He gets it done.

Inside the Numbers Bowyer's 2006 stats Track Start Finish 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 Pocono 42 21 200 running Michigan 9 39 86 running Infineon 28 16 110 running Daytona 30 10 160 running Chicago 38 9 270 running Loudon 31 27 307 running Pocono 14 41 194 running Indy 2 4 160 running The Glen 14 14 90 running Michigan 29 33 197 engine Bristol 27 38 415 running Fontana 3 3 250 running Richmond 16 12 400 running Loudon 18 24 299 running Dover 16 8 400 running Kansas 6 9 267 running 'Dega 32 35 63 accident

I already was planning to go to the track anyway to watch Austin Dillon, who is the grandson of RCR owner Richard Childress. It was his third or fourth time being in a dirt car. Me coming from dirt, I'm a firm believer in it. He's going to be a good driver one day and I like helping him when I can.

I didn't really have a mentor. My older brother was still racing motorcycles and my dad would go with him, so mom and I would go to the track and race cars.

Once I started winning races and getting pop's attention, business started picking up.

Dale's really taken Austin under his wing and I can see a difference already. He's won a lot of races and knows what it takes.

He's got Austin running all over, on asphalt one night and dirt the next. That's important. You've got to be able to adapt. It's fun to watch somebody like him break into the sport at 16, which isn't far from when I got my start.

The match race was fun, too, because I got to go against Carl Edwards and Ken Schrader. Carl got in the fence there and Schrader started in the back, but everybody had a good time.

Any time I can get behind the wheel of a car on dirt I'll take it. It's a lot of fun, but it's a lot more fun in good equipment like I had.

That I have those opportunities shows that I've kind of arrived. I was talking to my father the other night and we both agreed it's been amazing. I would have killed to drive a car like that three or four years ago. Now people just hand it to you and tell you to have fun with it.

You start recognizing just how big this sport is and how much it has to offer.

That's one great thing about racing. You can be 16 like Austin and 74 like Red Farmer, and both compete and have fun.