Bowyer attracting NASCAR fans

The driver has gained a grass-roots following among traditional NASCAR fans.

Steven Cole Smith | Sentinel Staff Writer

January 23, 2008

Clint Bowyer
Car No.: 07
Team: Richard Childress Racing
Sponsors: Jack Daniel's
Manufacturer: Chevrolet
Hometown: Emporia, Kan.
Birthday: May 30, 1979
Web page: www.clintbowyer.com
(RUSTY JARRETT, GETTY IMAGES FOR NASCAR / January 8, 2008)

WELCOME, N.C. - This is the 60th birthday of NASCAR, and for traditionalists, this will be a season unlike any other. Sprint Cup drivers once came from dirt tracks scattered across the country, gradually climbing the ladder until they ended up at the pinnacle.

Now, it seems like the route to NASCAR leads through Formula One (Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve); the Indy Racing League (Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr.) and even Champ Car (Patrick Carpentier).

Which is one reason Clint Bowyer has gained a grass-roots following among race fans who recognize that if any of the newer drivers might fit the NASCAR template from 20, 30 or 40 years ago, it's the 28-year-old Emporia, Kan., driver.

Tanned, sinewy and slightly hard-bitten for his age, it's apparent that Bowyer spent quite a bit of his formative years under his race car, as well as in the driver's seat.

An overnight success years in the making, Bowyer gives hope to those dirt-track regulars that, yes, there is a chance -- a slim one, but still a chance -- that you can make it to the big leagues even if your daddy isn't a millionaire.

At an evening at the Richard Childress Racing shop in Welcome, N.C., where Childress is hosting members of the annual NASCAR media tour, Bowyer sits by his No. 07 Jack Daniels-sponsored black Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and looks at ease, but slightly amused, at all the microphones and tape recorders thrust at him.

Just a few years ago, says Childress, Bowyer was one of the team's "developmental drivers," who -- at every team -- tend to come and go with depressing regularity.

But Bowyer did well enough in the Nationwide Series to get a one-race shot at the Sprint Cup Series in 2005, then ran a full season in 2006, doing well, but raising a few eyebrows.

Then came 2007, when Bowyer, running under the radar, kept ticking off strong finishes with consistent runs that were seldom flashy, but seldom disastrous.

He managed to complete 98.6 percent of the possible laps run all season, win a race, and finish a strong third in the points. Since he finished behind Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon during a period when Hendrick cars were dominating, Bowyer was, in a sense, the best in class as the strongest non-Hendrick competitor.

For 2008, the soft-spoken Bowyer loses that dark-horse ranking, something that suited him as he continued to sneak up on the field.

While Childress teammate Kevin Harvick won the biggest race of the year, the 2007 Daytona 500, it was Bowyer who got the job done consistently.

So, can he improve on last year's standing?

"It's too early to tell," Bowyer says, "but we've been making some serious headway. Have the guys at Hendrick been making headway, too? Probably. But if we don't beat them this year, it won't be for lack of trying."

Bowyer rose though the ranks at his home tracks, dirt ovals like Heartland Park in Topeka, Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City.

Despite multiple championships, "It wasn't easy for me," he says. "It took a lot of begging, a lot of tugging on shirt sleeves, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Not just for me, but for my family, and all the people who helped me."

Bowyer still competes at the little tracks when he can, and, as you'd expect, he's often approached for advice. Which is: "Work hard. Nothing happens when you're sitting on the couch."

In 2002, Bowyer won the NASCAR Midwest Dirt Track Championship, and he attended the NASCAR banquet.

"That banquet made me want to go back there, and be a part of the Cup banquet -- stand on the stage where Jimmie Johnson stood and smile down at everybody," he said.

Bowyer won $4,215,872 in 2007. Atop that pile of cash is a good vantage point for anyone.

Steven Cole Smith can be reached at scsmith@orlandosentinel.com.