Event/Date: Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 – March 29, 2009
Venue: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway

NOTES:
• This Week’s BB&T Chevrolet at Martinsville Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 218 from the Richard Childress Racing stable. Formerly a designated backup car for the No. 07 team, this Chevrolet Impala SS will see action for the first time when it hits the track this weekend in Martinsville.

• Stat Facts …
o Martinsville Facts … In six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Martinsville Speedway, Bowyer boasts three top-10 finishes. His best finish at the .526-mile oval is ninth, where he has finished twice. The Emporia, Kan., native has completed all but four laps of competition at the shortest track on the NSCS circuit and has a 14th-place finishing average.
o Rearview Mirror … Bowyer started 31st and finished 13th at Bristol Motor Speedway last week. The finish marked his fifth-consecutive top-15 finish at the .533-mile Tennessee bullring. The 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion recorded a third-place finish in Saturday’s NNS event.
o Starting Out Strong … In his fourth season of full-time NSCS competition, Bowyer is off to the strongest start of his brief career. In the five races held thus far in 2009, Bowyer has accumulated two top-five and three top-10 finishes, an average finish of 8.8 and $1,159,913 in earnings. He is currently ranked third in the championship point standings.
o Keep on Rolling … Bowyer has been running at the end of every race dating back to Phoenix in November 2006, a streak of 78 races. He is now credited with having the longest current streak of running at the finish, taken over from RCR teammate Kevin Harvick who failed to finish the Auto Club 500 and saw his streak end at 81 consecutive races without a DNF (did not finish).
o Biggest Loser … Bowyer’s much anticipated appearance on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” will air Tues., March 24 following President Obama’s primetime news conference at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
o Saving Abel … Bowyer participated in a shoot for the band Saving Abel’s music video “Drowning (Face Down)” last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bowyer makes a cameo appearance, encouraging driver Jeremy Mayfield to keep up his efforts to make it as a struggling owner/driver. The video is expected to begin airing in April.
o Meet the Press … Bowyer will be available inside Martinsville Speedway’s infield media center to field questions from the gathered press on Fri., March 27 at 11:30 a.m.
o RCR at Martinsville … In 106 previous NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville, RCR has earned three poles and posted six wins between former drivers Ricky Rudd and Dale Earnhardt. Additionally, RCR-prepared race cars have earned 23 top-five and 44 top-10 finishes at Martinsville dating back to April 10, 1972. Richard Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division, contributed four of those top 10s from 1976-1978.
• On The Home Front … While none of the No. 33 crew members are natives of the Martinsville area, approximately half of them reside close enough that they will make the daily commute from their homes to the speedway.
• Catch the Action … The Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 will be televised live Sun., March 29 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on FOX and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the sixth of 36 races on the 2009 schedule will be televised live on SPEED Fri., March 27 at 3:30 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will carry qualifying updates live.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:

You’ve finished ninth, 10th, ninth and 11th in your last four races at Martinsville.
“We’ve got to get better at Martinsville. We’ve had a huge improvement over the last couple of years. It wasn’t one of my best tracks when I was starting out. I’d never seen a place like that before. I’m still learning there but we’ve improved tremendously. We just need to work on finding a little more speed. ”

What’s the thing that’s going to get you over the hump there?
“I think you’ve just got to continue to improve on what you’ve got. It’s not like we’re out to lunch and need to re-invent the wheel. I just need to continue to massage my techniques and I need to get a little more aggressive at times. It’s a place where you really need to be aggressive.”

Martinsville seems to be the most difficult track for drivers to figure out. Why is that?
“It’s a short track, but it’s not like any other short track you’ve ever been to. It goes against everything your tendencies tell you to do. You have to back the corner up, you have to let the car roll way around the corner before you get back on the gas. Your tendencies are to get in the corner as deep as you can and get back on the throttle as fast as possible. Those are two things that are catastrophic there, so you’ve got to discipline yourself and stay disciplined throughout the race.”

Is it easier or harder to pass at Martinsville in the Car of Tomorrow?
“I think it’s even harder to pass there now. The new car is pretty tough. You can beat and bang with it more than you could with the old car. The fenders were pretty weak with the old car. You had to be very careful not to fold them in or you’d find yourself in trouble. Now, you can really race a lot harder and that makes it a little more difficult to gain positions.”

SHANE WILSON QUOTE:

You head into Martinsville fresh off racing at Bristol - back-to-back short tracks. How do the two tracks compare?
“Martinsville is a little slower paced than Bristol. It’s not as crazy. To me, it’s a little easier to get the car right and you’ll know a little more where you’re at. I’ve always been comfortable racing at Martinsville. We’ve got a strong short track program at Richard Childress Racing and I feel pretty confident heading there this weekend.”