Bowyer is having strong rookie year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- To gauge just how far Richard Childress Racing has come in its company-wide bid for improvement, look beyond Kevin Harvick's success and Jeff Burton's resurgence.
The true indicator is Clint Bowyer, who quietly is having a tremendous rookie season and proving that Childress is committed to getting all three of his teams to the top.
Bowyer is coming off his best run of the year, a fifth-place finish last weekend in Phoenix. He led 21 laps, his first time out front in a Nextel Cup race, and spent 269 of the 312 laps in the top 10. Harvick won the race and Burton finished ninth, making it a solid night for the Childress teams.
But Childress wasn't around to see any of it. The car owner was on an African safari.
"The boss is over there hunting and fighting elephants and tigers and whatever else over there in Africa," Bowyer said. "But he'll be pretty happy when he comes back."
Thrilled is more like it.
Backbone of company
Harvick is the backbone of the company, expected to compete for wins and a spot in the Chase for the championship. Burton is an experienced veteran slowly bouncing back from several years of struggles.
But Bowyer? He's the wild card, a raw rookie given a full-time Nextel Cup ride based on limited NASCAR credentials.
Childress promoted him even though Bowyer had just one full Busch Series season and a single Cup start (a 22nd-place finish at Phoenix last year) under his belt. Based on his experience level, Bowyer is equally capable of staying out of trouble for a clean, safe run, or making a colossal error that could ruin his race.
Competing in a deep rookie class that includes two-time Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr., hotshot Reed Sorenson and Tony Stewart's two teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing (J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin), no one besides Childress expected much out of Bowyer this first year.
"Everybody was looking at these other guys who had won some races, so for him to be able to be in there and do what he's done, I'm proud of him," Childress said last month. "He'll only get better as the year goes on."
May be in the chase
If that's true, then Bowyer could find himself in the Chase. He's currently 12th in the standings, 308 points behind leader Matt Kenseth -- well within the 400-point cutoff to make the playoffs.
He heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend with the same car he drove to an impressive sixth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. Bowyer wants a similar showing this weekend.
"As I learned in Daytona, you've got to be there at the end with all the fenders on it to be able to race for a win," he said. "We were there at the end and had all the fenders on it and were able to get up to sixth place. That was a big part of it and it's going to be a bigger part of it now."
Recognizing the big picture is a large part of what it takes to succeed, especially at RCR. The car owner has had an eclectic mix of drivers since his team was turned upside down following Dale Earnhardt's death in 2001.
Harvick replaced Earnhardt five days later, and he's been the only constant as Childress has juggled several different lineups over the past five years. He finally may have it right with the addition of Bowyer in the No. 07 Chevrolet.
Blaney drove last year
Dave Blaney of Hartford drove the car last year, and although there was harmony among the teammates, Blaney didn't have the desired on-track performance. Now RCR is getting both from Bowyer, and it's got everyone at ease.
"Clint and I are really close as friends, we do things off the race track together as much as our schedule allows," said Harvick. "Jeff brings a veteran attitude to the team. He understands a lot of things and has a very politically correct approach to things, which is the exact opposite of me.
"So I feel like it is a really good balance teammate wise and everybody helps everybody and does what they can to make sure everybody is going good. This is the first time I have ever been a part of that at RCR. It was usually everybody racing against each other."
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