Bowyer Produces Results Under Radar

January 12, 2009 7:35 p.m. EST

Daytona Beach, FL (AHN) - NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer doesn't carry the fanfare of a Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth or Dale Earnhardt Jr., but he managed to beat them all in 2008.

Well, maybe he didn't beat them every weekend, but he did finish ahead of the three former champions, including the driver who won the most races last year and the sport's most-popular driver.

While Busch won eight races, Junior is the sport's biggest name and Gordon, Stewart and Kenseth have won championships over the last decade, Bowyer has quietly outperformed all of them the past two seasons.

"You have to set your goals as high as possible. You go in to the season wanting to win a championship, wanting to win a race. Your first goal is to win a race; your second goal is to win a championship. If you can't win the championship, you want to be second, then third. That is where the goals are,'' said Bowyer.

"That is where you, that is where you have got to set your goals and you have got to work your butt off to make sure that you meet those goals. But, if you don't, you got to meet the next goal. You always have to have goals, at least I do,'' he added.

Wheeling the equipment of Richard Childress Racing, Bowyer has quietly made himself not just a contender for a title, but almost a stealth performer if you will.

He's won a race each of the past two seasons, finished fifth in The Chase this past season and a career-best third the year before. While he may have finished higher in points the year before, the Emporia, Kan., native topped off 2008 by capturing his first NASCAR championship in the Nationwide Series.

In NASCAR's Triple-A division, Bowyer won just one race - just like he did in Cup - but he scored a series-best 29 top-10 finishes in just 35 starts. In fact his worst two finishes (25th) of the championship season came at the series' two superspeedway stops - Daytona and Talladega.

"You aren't going to have those guys, those teams, that just run up front all the time, even the good teams that run up front are going to struggle here and there,'' said Bowyer.

The 29-year old, entering just his fourth season of Cup competition, credits his 2008 success to his strong run in 2007.

While Bowyer scored seven top-five finishes, 17 top-10s and a win at Richmond in 2008, it was in 2007 when he scored five top-fives, 17 top-10s and kicked off The Chase with a win at New Hampshire.

"If you look at our season last year we ended it high. We were third in points on the Cup side and started off with; I don't even remember how many straight top-10s,'' said Bowyer. "It is a huge confidence booster rolling in to next year coming off a good year. I am looking forward to the off season, taking a break and starting over with a new team next year and seeing what you can do."

It will but won't be a new team for Bowyer, who will still be driving for RCR, but is leaving the No. 07 Chevrolet for Childress' new No. 33 entry in 2009.