No. 33 General Mills Chevrolet
Team: Richard Childress Racing
Owner: Richard Childress
Crew Chief: Shane Wilson

The Rundown

Of all the drivers at Richard Childress Racing, Clint Bowyer will have the most adjustments to make in 2009. The organization is expanding from three to four cars this year with the addition of fourth teammate Casey Mears, who’s making the move from Hendrick Motorsports.

Mears will become the new driver of the No. 07 car — Bowyer’s ride for the past three full Cup seasons, during which Bowyer earned a top-5 points finish two years running. Mears will take over the car number and primary sponsor (Jack Daniel’s), and will start the season with Bowyer’s current crew chief, Gil Martin. Meanwhile, Bowyer will move over to the new No. 33 with primary sponsors General Mills (Cheerios) for 25 races and BB&T — a financial holding company — for the remaining 11.  

That leaves Childress’ youngest Cup driver starting from scratch — literally. Even the No. 07’s owner points will stay with Mears, meaning that Bowyer will start the year with no top-35 guarantee. While many believed Childress would pursue buying owner points from a now-defunct team, the truth is that he did not. And will not. Therefore, the car will not be locked into the season’s first five races, although Bowyer shouldn’t have difficulty wheeling a strong RCR Chevy into the show. For his part, Bowyer seems resigned to the idea of starting the year off without owner points, though he tries to remain optimistic.

“It is what it is,” he said. “You’ve got to make the best of it, and we will. It’s like I told (Richard Childress), it beats beatin’ dents in the body shop.” 

Veteran NASCAR crew chief Shane Wilson will be on the pit box for the new Cup team. Wilson has been with RCR for three seasons as a crew chief in the Nationwide Series, though he does have previous Cup-level experience with Penske Racing. “He’s the best man for the job,” Bowyer says. “He’s been around RCR for quite some time. He’s going to fit in well right off the bat. That’s important. Everybody knows we’ve got to start off at Daytona, right out of the box good, to be in contention for this Chase. I think he’s the best guy for that.” 

That’s easier said than done, as Martin may prove to be the biggest loss for Bowyer — he worked Chase strategy to perfection in getting his team to peak at the right time the last two seasons. Mears could benefit from that in 2009, while Bowyer may experience the growing pains you might expect from a new team.

Opposing Crew Chiefs’ Take

“He’s as hot and cold as anybody I see,” said one rival crew chief of Clint Bowyer. “He’ll be good at one mile-and-a-half track, then go to the next one and be nearly dead last. He’s a good talent, but I think he’s going to face a test when he gives up the 07 to Casey Mears and moves to RCR’s new team (No. 33). I don’t care how many times I hear that explained, it still doesn’t make sense, and there’s more here somehow than what meets the eye.”

Another crew chief doesn’t see the switch as a big deal. “You can’t really judge stuff like that until you see what happens,” he says. “The change of scenery might help Bowyer and Mears both. Clint can get the job done behind the wheel. Look at his consistency in the Nationwide Series, and Cup, too, for that matter. When he’s got a shot to win, he’s on his game.”

2008 Recap

Clint Bowyer’s 2008 season was not all that different from 2007 in terms of the hard data. Bowyer made the Chase both years, had the same number of wins (one) and top-10 finishes (17) and ended both seasons in the top 5 in points (third in ’07 and fifth in ’08). 

However, it’s notable that Bowyer led fewer than half the number of laps in ’08 as in ’07. His only win came in the 10th race of the year at Richmond — a race best remembered for Kyle Busch’s late-race contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr., taking them both out of contention for the win. The collision allowed Bowyer, who’d been running just behind them at the time, to take the lead and score the victory. Denny Hamlin had led 380 of the first 381 laps, but blew a tire late and finished 24th.

Bowyer had it rough after that, going five straight weeks without a top-10 finish. But 2008 was the team’s second full season without a DNF, and keeping it on the racetrack was enough to lift him above the fray and into the postseason for a second straight year.

Bowyer started the Chase fifth in the standings — one of four drivers who had one regular season win, putting each one 70 points behind leader Busch. Bowyer would never get closer in a postseason that was good, but not great. His best finish in the Chase was a fourth in Texas; his worst, a 20th in Atlanta. With an average finish of 9.9 in the final 10 races, Bowyer ended the Chase right where he started it — ranked fifth overall.
 
In the Nationwide Series, things went far better. Bowyer ran the full 35-race season and won his first championship by a 21-point margin over Carl Edwards.

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