• Back on Track With DIRECTV … For the fourth and final time this season, Bowyer’s No. 07 Chevy will sport a DIRECTV paint scheme. DIRECTV is the nation’s leading digital television service provider. DIRECTV is also the official satellite television service provider of NASCAR. The team’s customary primary sponsor, Jack Daniel’s, will be featured on the car’s lower-rear quarter panels and deck lid.

• Way to go Rook … Bowyer was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race last weekend at Kansas Speedway. The 27-year-old driver finished ninth and logged his ninth top-10 finish of the season. Bowyer led three times for 43 laps last weekend and earned rookie of the race honors for the seventh time this year.

• Plate-Racin’ Ace … In six restrictor-plate races this season, including NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series competition, Bowyer has racked up two top-five and five top-10 results. He was the highest finishing rookie at the season-opening Daytona 500 after taking the checkered flag in sixth.

• RCR at Talladega … Richard Childress competed as a driver in Talladega’s inaugural race in 1969 and used his winnings from that race weekend to help start RCR. Fittingly, he now holds the record as the car owner with the most success at the storied Alabama track, with nine victories to his organization’s credit, all of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Additionally, in 96 starts, RCR boasts four poles, 27 top-five, 42 top ten finishes and nearly $6 million in earnings.

• New Kid in Town … Timothy Peters, the latest addition to RCR’s stable of drivers, will make his RCR debut on Friday behind the wheel of the No. 31 Okuma Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the Food World 250 ARCA race. Peter’s team will be led by veteran crew chief Pat Smith with RCR’s No. 21 Busch Series team servicing the car on pit road.

• Meet the Driver … Bowyer will sign autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer Sunday, October 8 from 9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Tickets for autographs will be available at the trailer the morning of the race and are limited in supply due to time constraints.

• Catch the Action on DIRECTV … The UAW-Ford 500 from Talladega Superspeedway will take the green flag Sunday, October 8 at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will be broadcast live on NBC, the Motor Racing Network and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 30th race on the 2006 calendar will be televised live on SPEED Saturday, October 7 at noon EDT. MRN and XM Satellite will carry qualifying live.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES

Talk about restrictor-plate racing and Talladega in general.

“Drafting out there at Daytona and Talladega is pretty crazy to be honest. It’s wild. You either like it or you don’t. I’m not going to say it isn’t scary because it scares the hell out of me sometimes. You have to be able to stick your nose in there and get after it to get the job done. There are a lot of situations where you can just as easily back off and go to the back or you can go for it and go to the front. Obviously, good equipment plays a huge role on restrictor-plate race tracks and I’ve been fortunate enough to have good cars underneath me. When you have a good car, plate racing can be a lot of fun.”

Is there anything to the old strategy of fading to the rear and avoiding the big wreck that always seems happen at Talladega and Daytona?

“That reminds me of the spring race. I didn’t qualify as well as I had hoped so I went to the back and it bit me. Kevin (Harvick) and I talked about it before the race. That’s kind of the Dale Jarrett approach – ride around the back until it’s time to go and be there at the end but that didn’t work out too well for me. My new theory is never go backwards – always go forwards.”

How will the new surface effect competition?

“There’s going to be a lot of grip and I think you’ll see some brave souls who will go for it. I don’t think it will be a whole lot faster, there’s just going to be a lot more grip so we’ll be able to run closer together and potentially create more of a problem. There’s also a little more insurance with more grip so it’s kind of a catch-22. It’s going to have more grip which should make it safer because we won’t be sliding around as much but, at the same time, we’ll be racing closer and tighter than we ever have at Talladega.”