Bowyer still feeling the effects of Saturday's win
Relive the action
 |
Race Trax:
News:
- Schrader to drive for Childress at Lowe's
- Don't expect return of Southern 500
- Roush driver wins ARCA race
- Stewart wins wreck-filled N'wide race
Video:
Analysis:
Photo galleries:
Blog:
Fantasy:
Can you dig it?
"I'm not going to take anything away from our effort — we started 31st for crying out loud," said Bowyer, who climbed to fourth in the point standings. "The 11 (Denny Hamlin) was the class of the field. There was a time there when I was mad at the 18 (Kyle Busch) because I thought it might cost me fourth place. Mark Martin was kind of close to me in fifth, but as it all fell into place, I won the race. It's just crazy how things happen sometimes. That's what makes this sport the way it is."
Given how solid Bowyer has been in his first three seasons on the Cup tour, including his third-place finish in the 2007 point standings, it's understandable that Richard Childress wants to re-sign his budding driver long before the contract expires in 2009. Bowyer, who started racing for Childress in what is now the Nationwide Series in 2004, is currently working on an extension that will lock him into the No. 07 Chevrolet for the foreseeable future. Tidying up the contract now will allow Bowyer to concentrate solely on racing.
"Unfortunately, it's all part of the business of racing," Bowyer said. "It's not much fun, but it is a part of it. We're trying to get it done so we don't have to worry about it. What it all comes down to is I owe a great deal to Richard for giving me this opportunity and I'm grateful for having it. I love where I'm at. Everyone treats me like family and hopefully, he won't get rid of me. "
Bowyer has built a strong relationship with Childress and teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. And while RCR continues to boast one of the most competitive operations in NASCAR, both in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, the swift success of the No. 7 team centers on the chemistry between crew chief Gil Martin, Bowyer and the crew.
"Strength in numbers is the key to anything," Bowyer said. "All three teams have been together for a while and I think that's a big part of our success. Everybody knows everybody, everybody knows what we're getting into and everybody knows what to expect out of one another. I think that's a good, positive thing."
Bowyer isn't concerned about his negotiations, but he would like to have his contract in place before the Chase begins in September.
"I'm not too worried about it, I'm more worried about getting that 07 back to Victory Lane because that was fun," Bowyer said. "I think it's important to get it out of the way so I don't want any distractions. I won't have any distractions, and if that's going to be a distraction, then we need to get it out of the way."
Busch is bulletproof
Kyle Busch knew he had arrived when his boos were louder than Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s cheers. The jeers continued during the red-flag period at Richmond when fans from the stands wished he had wrecked like his brother, then questioned his sexuality. And once he wrecked Earnhardt — albeit just one of them racing deals — the crowd went wild. Compared to the clamor from fans in Mexico in 2006 when Busch wrecked local favorite Michel Jourdain and needed security to escape the road course, Saturday night's reaction was lame.
"It wasn't too bad," Busch said. "We were going back from the infield to the motorhome and there wasn't anything. And then going from the motorhome to the helipad, there were just a couple fans yelling derogatory comments and things like that.
"It's nothing new to me anyway. I'm used to it. I pretty much told them, 'Grow-up, that's racing.' We're racing hard and I feel like there's a lot more worse cases in this world than someone getting spun out in a race."
What does Busch care? He's won seven NASCAR races this year and is leading the Sprint Cup point standings.
Growing pains
Amidst rumors that Casey Mears was off to Ginn Racing a year ago, he captured his first Sprint Cup win in the CocaCola 600 last season and quieted the critics.
Alas, Mears finds himself in the same position again this year. But with reassurance from bossman Rick Hendrick, the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet hopes to keep trudging ahead.
"We're solid for next year and definitely focused on moving forward," said Mears, who is currently 23rd in points. "Rick has stated that several times, that things are where they're going to be, and we're moving forward for next year. We're just getting started again.
"It's kind of an unfortunate thing, but it seems like I'm in this situation almost every year a little bit, just because I'm constantly changing teams and I'm constantly spending the first half of the season just trying to grow and learn with that new team. I think the biggest thing that obviously we need to see happen with the 5 team is that it stays consistent, obviously get this full year under our belt."
advertisement
