Around the Track: PIR

Ride with F-16s almost too much for Nextel Cup Series rookie

Nextel Cup rookie Clint Bowyer finished fifth last week at Texas Motor Speedway to take over sole possession of 17th in the points standings.

It was his 10th top-10 of the season and third since the Chase for the Nextel Cup began.

Now he returns to Phoenix International Raceway where he finished fifth and led 21 laps in April

	Credit: Richard Childress Racing
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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.

What a ride.

I've spent most of my life around speed, but nothing compares to the ride crew chief Gil Martin and I took on Wednesday in F-16s out of Luke Air Force Base in Goodyear, Ariz.

We went Mach 1, like 760 mph ground speed, but it's all relevant just like it is in a stock car. Mach 1 doesn't feel any faster than 450 mph just like 200 mph doesn't feel any faster than 185 in my racecar.

But when you hit 450 knots and jerk on the stick and head up and pull 7-Gs that gives you a sensation of speed that you can't feel in a stock car.

Before you even get to the F-16s you go through a lot of training, a lot of precautionary measures, everything from pulling the ejection cord to parachuting to the ground in virtual reality hanging from a spacesuit.

It was a lot of work. It wasn't just jumping in the seat and going for a ride.

After we went through all the training we had to get checked out at the hospital to get medical clearance. After that there was a 30-minute briefing on the flight plan.

Everything was really planned out, definitely the military standards from the time we got there until the time we hit the ground. Everything was right on schedule.

My pilot was really cool. Buster is his nickname. I learned a lot from him.

The G-forces really didn't bother me that much. The twisting back and forth, going upside down, the rollercoaster effect they can do so fast, that played a toll on me.

I didn't get sick or anything, but I definitely told him to chill out for a second before we went back after it.

It's unreal the amount of talent that those guys have, the concentration to do the things they have to do. It was an eye opener.

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 Lowe's 8 23 329 running Martinsville 37 23 500 running Atlanta 18 25 325 running Fort Worth 14 5 339 running

I've always heard horror stories about everybody going up and getting sick and throwing up. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to have a flight I could remember the rest of my life and enjoy, and that's what we did.

We got to fly over the Grand Canyon, which was absolutely beautiful. We got to fly down through the mountains at a real low altitude and up close to the land. It's just incredible what those planes are capable of and the confidence those guys have to push them.

Hugging against the side of a wall in a stock car doesn't compare to hugging mountain at 450 knots, that's for sure. It's just an experience my body has never physically felt before.

It screws your equilibrium up. It's something I'm not used to. It's a rollercoaster 10 times over on steroids. It's an unbelievable ride.

A two-seater F-16 is for training purposes only. When the pilots go up for the first time in an F-16 it's a single-seater and they go up on their own. What we went in was kind of a ride-along program.

Letting the passenger fly is against the rule, but he let me have some fun. Buster was really good on getting me comfortable, kind of chilling out for a bit and then going up.

It was a good way to spend the day after a really good run at Texas. We're having a lot of fun at the end of the year.

It's a shame this season is about to end. It was really nice to run as good as we did at Texas the whole day. It felt good to put the whole package together and show everybody our potential for next year.

I'm really looking forward to going to Phoenix. We led some laps there and finished fifth in April. Hopefully, we can do the same thing and finish better this week.

Buster is going to do the flyover after the National Anthem. After he gets done he's going to spend time on the pit box.

I'm going to give him a ride in the pace car early that morning. I told him the only way I can do what he did to me is hit the wall, and I don't think the race officials would be happy if I did that to the pace car.