Event/Date: Kobalt Tools 500 – March 8, 2009 Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga.

NOTES: · This Week’s BB&T Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 265 from the Richard Childress Racing stable. This is a brand-new BB&T Chevrolet Impala SS.

· Stat Facts …

o Atlanta Facts … In six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bowyer boasts three top-10 finishes. His best finish at the 1.54-mile oval is sixth, where he has finished three times. An ill-handling race car along with a late-race incident on pit road left the Emporia, Kan., native with a 20th-place finish when the circuit last visited the track in October 2008.
o New Colors … Bowyer’s Chevrolet Impala SS will sport new colors this weekend when the burgundy, white and gold paint scheme of BB&T adorn the No. 33 for the first of 11 races where the Winston-Salem, N.C. corporation will be featured as the primary sponsor.
o Rearview Mirror … Bowyer started 37th and finished second in last week’s Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and enters Atlanta second in NSCS points, just 18 markers behind point leader Jeff Gordon. Bowyer led his first laps of the 2009 season last week when he showed the way from lap 260 to lap 268.
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 three races held thus far in 2009, Bowyer has accumulated two top-five finishes. The two-time NSCS winner has an average finish of 8.3, and has collected $970,588 in earnings.
o Keep on Rolling … Bowyer has been running at the end of every race dating back to Phoenix in November 2006, a streak of 76 races. He is now credited with having the longest current streak of running at the finish, taking over from RCR teammate Kevin Harvick, who failed to finish the Auto Club 500 two weeks ago and saw his streak end at 81 consecutive races without a DNF (did not finish).
o Meet the Press … Bowyer will be available inside the infield media center to field questions from the gathered media on Fri., March 6 at 2:30 p.m.
o Cleveland Rocks … Bowyer will sign autographs at the Chevrolet Display at the Cleveland Auto Show on Wednesday, March 4 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. For ticket information, log onto clevelandautoshow.com
· RCR in the ATL … In 105 starts at AMS, RCR has earned four poles and nine wins including Kevin Harvick’s emotional victory in the Cracker Barrel 500 on March 11, 2001. Prior to that, Dale Earnhardt won eight times at the Hampton, Ga., track. Additionally, RCR boasts 25 top-five and 45 top-10 finishes at AMS. Meanwhile, RCR- prepared race cars have led 2,747 laps at the ultra-fast 1.54-mile quad oval. Richard Childress, a former driver on NASCAR’s senior circuit, recorded his best finish at Atlanta with a ninth-place effort in the Atlanta Journal 500 on Nov. 2, 1980.
· Happy Birthday … Gas man Bryan Smith celebrated his 30th birthday on Mon., March 2. The Hendersonville, N.C., native celebrated his birthday by flying home from Las Vegas with his teammates when poor weather conditions prevented RCR from heading home on Sunday evening as planned.
· Catch the Action … The Kobalt Tools 500 will be televised live Sun., March 8 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fourth of 36 races will be televised live on SPEED Fri., March 6 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. PRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will carry qualifying updates live.

CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:
In six starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, you’ve scored three top-10 finishes. You’re coming off a strong second-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. What does that do for your confidence heading to the track this weekend?
“It does a lot for our confidence. I think we’ll be good in Atlanta. It’s been a good track for me over the years, we’ve run well there. It’s important for us to have a strong finish there to continue building on the good points base that we’ve built thus far.”

You’re off to the strongest start of your career. It’s early in the season, but you’re second in points. Statistically speaking, after the first five or six races the guys at the top of the point standings make The Chase. Is it too early to start thinking big picture?
“Absolutely not. I don’t think it’s too early to start thinking big picture. It starts at Daytona. Everything we do is focused on making the Chase. Everyone on the BB&T team has worked hard to put us in the position we’re in. We were able to overcome going down a lap and sustaining some damage to rebound with a big finish last week at Las Vegas. Strong performances early in the season are key.”
You struggled at Auto Club Speedway, but rebounded strongly at Las Vegas. How is the communication between yourself and Shane Wilson progressing? “I think it’s getting better. Honestly, I feel like it’s going to be better for us in the long run that we had that tough weekend in California. If we had started out the season running awesome and then hit that point where we struggled, it might be harder for us to get over that point. We’ve been able to learn a lot about each other early in the game and that’s only going to help make us a stronger team as the season continues.”

SHANE WILSON QUOTE:
It’s early in the season, but you’re off to a strong start. There’s a lot of racing to go, but try to think big picture and assess where the No. 33 team is.
“It’s still very early in the season, but I’d much rather find ourselves in the position we are in rather than trying to dig out of a hole. I don’t think we’re as good yet as we should be, but this is a strong group of guys and we’ll only continue to improve. I think that some of the other teams have what they have, but I feel like we’re only at the beginning of what we can accomplish as the year goes on.”