Bowyer's success in rookie season adds to stature of Richard Childress Racing

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- To gauge just how far Richard Childress Racing has come in its company-wide bid for improvement, look beyond Kevin Harvick's success and Jeff Burton's resurgence.

The true indicator is Clint Bowyer, who quietly is having a tremendous rookie season and proving that Childress is committed to getting all three of his teams to the top.

Bowyer is coming off his best run of the year, a fifth-place finish last weekend in Phoenix. He led 21 laps, his first time out front in a Nextel Cup race, and spent 269 of the 312 laps in the top 10. Harvick won the race and Burton finished ninth, making it a solid night for the Childress teams.

But Childress wasn't around to see any of it. The car owner was on an African safari.

"The boss is over there hunting and fighting elephants and tigers and whatever else over there in Africa," Bowyer said. "But he'll be pretty happy when he comes back."

Thrilled is more like it.

Harvick is the backbone of the company, expected to compete for wins and a spot in the Chase for the Championship. Burton is an experienced veteran slowly bouncing back from several years of struggles.

But Bowyer? He's the wild card, a raw rookie given a full-time Nextel Cup ride based on limited NASCAR credentials.

Childress promoted him even though Bowyer had just one full Busch Series season and a single Cup start -- a 22nd-place finish at Phoenix last year -- under his belt. Based on his experience level, Bowyer is equally capable of staying out of trouble for a clean, safe run, or making a colossal error that could ruin his race.

Competing in a deep rookie class that includes two-time Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr., hotshot Reed Sorenson and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin, no one besides Childress expected much out of Bowyer this first year.

"Everybody was looking at these other guys who had won some races, so for him to be able to be in there and do what he's done, I'm proud of him," Childress said last month. "He'll only get better as the year goes on."