Bowyer looking for first Cup win in midst of Chase (cont'd)

"I guess it's the university," said Bowyer. That would be Emporia State University, home of the Hornets, a 17-7 winner over Oklahoma Central on Saturday. But Clint knows the history of his hometown. He told me about Veterans Day, and William Allen White and "a lot of neat things" that are there.

It's not hard to get a laugh out of Bowyer. Like Emporia, he is quiet, until you get to know him. He has a terrific sense of humor and likes to "have a good time."

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"He's a hell of a lot of fun to be around," said Jeff Burton, a Bowyer teammate at Richard Childress Racing. "He keeps things light around the shop. He keeps things light at the racetrack, even when things aren't going well. He brings a lot of youthful enthusiasm. He's really good for our team."

This year things have been good for Clint and his team. He made the Chase. Sure he's 12th, but was ninth in points heading into Richmond. The "seeding" process placed him in that 12th spot, but he is just 60 points behind Jimmie Johnson heading to New Hampshire. And we all know that 12th is a whole lot better than 13th.

Oh, one more thing, he has yet to win in the Nextel Cup Series. And, yes, he knows that, and knows that his first career win could come in the Chase.

"That would mean so much," Bowyer said. "Not just to me, but to everybody at Richard Childress Racing and this Jack Daniel's team. I'm a racer. I grew up racing. I won a lot of races, that's how I got here, and I know we can win here. It's frustrating; it [not winning] beats me down. Winning would bring some fresh air to the team, it would give us a lot of momentum and that's important, too. Everyone here would love a win, they've earned it."

The report card on Bowyer's sophomore season shows high marks for improvement but still lacks the all-important "A" for winning. He has shown he can put himself in position, fourth at Sonoma, third at Bristol; he has 12 top-10s in 2007. Four times this season he has posted back-to-back top-10 finishes, but he has not managed three in a row, and the third at Bristol is his only top-10 in the last five races. Bowyer knows the numbers.

"First of all, the season has been successful; we have no reason to frown," Bowyer said. "No, we haven't got a win yet but we've been in several situations where we could have won and I screwed up. I'm still learning and there's lots of room to improve but the big thing is we keep getting better.

"Being there at the end of the race is the key. Last year we had races where we showed the speed and were in position to win the race but I made a mistake, I crashed the car. One of the biggest things I've learned is that if you have a seventh-place car don't wreck it trying to win. Take seventh and come back next week and try to win."

As a freshman, Bowyer's season was a test of faith and fabricators. Still the overall numbers weren't bad. He finished more than 96 percent of all the laps, led a few times, and had four top-fives and 11 top-10s. He finished the season with a 10th-place run at Homestead but had just two top-20 finishes in the final seven races.

"You race with these guys every week and you learn from them," he said. "You learn from your mistakes. Fortunately everyone at Richard Childress Racing and the guys on the Jack Daniel's team were patient enough with me that we could get through the season. Last year Richard always said to me, 'You should be making mistakes, that's what this year is all about.' Now next year, I really want you to be there."

Well, if "there" is the Chase, Bowyer is there, thanks to his teammates and a talented crew chief in unsung Gil Martin.

"Gil is a real veteran," Bowyer said. "He has been as patient as anyone. Now that we're where we are it's up to Gil and I to get everyone to the next level. We've got a great team and I have great teammates in Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. There is a lot of teamwork and really that is important. I continue to learn. There is a huge learning curve out here. It's a big jump coming from winning races in the Midwest to trying to win races in NASCAR's top series."

"Clint's done a great job. Clint did a great job last year," Burton said. "The amount of racing experience that Clint has at this level is really limited. If you really look at the number of races that Clint ran in a Busch car before he went Cup racing, it's a very small number. And I thought he did a great job in the Busch car and I thought he stepped into the Cup car and has done a great job too.

"He has continued to get better. He has continued to understand the things that have stood in their way of being successful and his mind is in the right place. He understands this is hard. He understands it's a challenge." (Continued)