Notes: Bowyer looking to repeat, stay atop points

It seems like Clint Bowyer (No. 2 Chevrolet) is getting all the breaks this season.

Despite a 25th-place finish due to an early accident at Talladega Superspeedway -- where he went in leading defending series champion Carl Edwards (No. 60 Ford) by nine points -- Bowyer managed to increase that lead to 27 points thanks to Edwards' first DNF of the season.

Now, Bowyer is looking ahead to the Lipton TEA 250 at Richmond International Raceway where he is the defending race winner.

Fast facts

What	Lipton TEA 250
When	Green, 7:44 p.m. ET Friday
TV	SPEED, ESPN Classic 7 ET ESPN2, 9:30 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 7:30 ET

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It shouldn't come as a surprise if Bowyer builds on that lead at Richmond where he's posted three of his six finishes in the top 10. He's also been strong during qualifying with five of his six starts in the top 10 at the .75-mile track.

Those numbers have been similar to his 2008 season overall after 11 races. Thus far, Bowyer has posted one victory, four top-fives and a series-high seven top-10 finishes.

JGR crew chiefs making right calls

Joe Gibbs Racing has been almost unstoppable this season and a big part of the organization's success in the Nationwide Series are crew chiefs Dave Rogers and Jason Ratcliff.

Rogers has been the key crew chief for the No. 20 Toyota, leading the team to four victories, five top-fives, and six top-10s in the first 10 races.

The two have put drivers Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch in Victory Lane a total of six times.

Stewart has grabbed three wins with Rogers atop the pit box at Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway and at Talladega.

Busch, who will drive at Richmond on Friday for Braun Racing in the No. 32 Toyota, posted a win with Rogers south of the border in Mexico, his first victory on a road course in a national series competition.

Denny Hamlin will be behind the wheel this weekend driving the No. 20 Toyota. He has three top-10s at Richmond and started on the pole in this event last season.

Ratcliff has been atop the No. 18 pit box for five races with Busch. The two have posted wins at Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway, along with three top-five finishes.

JGR leads the owner standings with the No. 20 car 55 points ahead of Richard Childress' No. 2.

The Director's take: Back to racing roots

"Richmond is one of the more popular tracks on the circuit for the drivers because it brings them back to their racing roots; racing under the lights on a short track," Nationwide Series director Joe Balash said. "This series was built on short-track racing.

"Short tracks are where everything comes into play ... the driver, the crew, the car. Richmond allows for the drivers to really showcase their talents. Even though they have to have a good car every week, this is a track where they use their talent to hustle the car around the race track to make up for small misses in the set up." (Continued)