ACDelco Earns First NASCAR Busch Series Win of Season

DOVER, Del. (Sept. 25, 2006) - ACDelco driver Clint Bowyer and the Real Car Guys won the Dover 200 Sept. 23 at Dover International Speedway to claim their first victory of the season and ACDelco's 30th win in Busch Series competition.

As a result of Bowyer's performance, ACDelco has earned at least one victory in each of the last ten years of Busch Series competition.

Bowyer started 16th but quickly picked his way through the field and was running in ninth place when the first of 13 caution flags waved on lap 11. The ACDelco driver radioed to his crew, "We're loose right now, but I think it will come to me on the long runs."

Bowyer's assessment was correct .During the second caution period on lap 21, he radioed the crew, "It's starting to come around. We're just going to have to start loose like that."

The ACDelco Chevrolet powered into the top five on lap 24, with Bowyer serving notice that he had the car to beat as he stuck to the bottom of the track.

Team ACDelco had their first opportunity to pit on lap 59 when the caution flag was displayed for debris on the racetrack. Bowyer radioed to the crew, "We're tight in the center and up off." Crew chief Dan Deeringhoff called his driver to the pits for fuel, four tires and a slight chassis adjustment.

On lap 63, Bowyer restarted the race in the 12th spot when nine cars opted not to pit during the caution. Three laps later, he radioed, "We're really loose now." As the handling of the ACDelco Chevrolet improved during the run, Bowyer systematically stalked and passed drivers to emerge in third place on lap 108.

Eleven laps later, Deeringhoff brought the ACDelco machine to pit road under yellow for fresh tires and fuel. Bowyer restarted in fifth place on lap 126 and resumed his charge to the front.

The ninth caution flag of the day waved on lap 139 for an accident in Turn 4. Running in fourth place, Bowyer radioed, "We're good now. The car came back to me." After taking the restart on lap 143, Bowyer called back in, "The only way we're going to gain is if we stay green."

On Lap 169, the Kansas native moved his ACDelco Chevrolet into third, and by lap 170 had advanced to second. He continued to push his ACDelco machine around the 1-mile Dover oval, holding the bottom line to successfully pass Matt Kenseth for the lead on lap 179. The Blue Deuce quickly pulled away from Kenseth and had a solid one-second lead with 14 laps remaining in the 200-lap event.

Martin Truex Jr. brought out the final caution of the day when he spun on Lap 198, setting the stage for a green-white-checkered shootout to the finish. Bowyer held off a hard-charging Kenseth and series points leader Kevin Harvick to claim the first win of the season for the ACDelco team.

Clint Bowyer Quote..."I was real nervous. That was some tough company behind me in Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick. It's been a tough year, and the ACDelco team has had some ups and down, but we've kept going. We finally got a win at Dover. It means a lot to battle it out with some of the best drivers in the world. That's what means the most to me."

Dan Deeringhoff Quote..."The ACDelco Chevrolet was awesome today. Clint ran his guts out, and I'm really proud of him and this whole ACDelco race team."

Next up for Team ACDelco... The Real Car Guys headed to Bowyer's home state this weekend as they compete in the Yellow Transportation 300 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. The race is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 30, starting at 3:05 p.m. EDT. Television coverage of the race will begin at 3:00 p.m. EDT on TNT, with radio coverage on your local MRN affiliate. Qualifying for the 200-lap event will be broadcast on PEE starting at 2:00 p.m. EDT Sept. 30.