Fast Facts: Clint Bowyer

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Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, began his motorsports career on two wheels. Here are a few other things you might not know about the 2008 Nationwide Series champ.

• Bowyer was born May 30th, 1979 in Emporia, Kansas. He began motocross racing at age five, winning more than 200 races and a number of championships before turning to street stocks in 1996. Bowyer went on to win championships in the Modified and Late Model divisions at tracks in Kansas and Missouri.


• In 2003, Bowyer made his debut in the ARCA Racing Series, finishing second in his debut at Nashville Superspeedway driving for Bobby Gerhart. Richard Childress saw the race and was impressed with Bowyer – he called to offer Bowyer a job, but Bowyer thought the person on the other end was joking and hung up. Luckily for Bowyer, Childress called back.


• Bowyer made his Busch Series (now Nationwide) debut in 2004, driving for both Childress and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick. In 2005, his first full-time season in the series, Bowyer finished second in points with two wins and two poles.


• Bowyer made the jump to the Cup Series in 2006, finishing second to Denny Hamlin in the Rookie of the Year standings; he also raced full-time in the Busch Series again, with a third-place finish in points. In 2007, Bowyer won his first Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, followed in 2008 by the Nationwide Series title.


• Through the 2011 season, Bowyer has five wins in the Cup Series, eight in the Nationwide Series and three in the Camping World Truck Series.


• Bowyer is also the owner of Clint Bowyer Racing, which fields Dirt Late Models; the team has fielded cars for Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson in Tony Stewart’s Prelude to the Dream charity race.


• Find out more about Clint Bowyer at http://www.clintbowyer.com/.