Break Up with Clint Bowyer, Find FHM

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer must have the magic touch -- after you break up with him.

Athena Barber, shown to the right, was voted the hottest NASCAR Girlfriend back in 2007 in a vote done by Sports Illustrated, but lost that title in 2008 after she and the Emporia, Kan.-driver parted ways to the puzzlement of male NASCAR fans everywhere.

Well, as TGOM over at Answer This spotted this week, Barber has found her way into the camera lens of the magazine FHM. I've included the link below.

In the interview/photo shoot, Barber opens up quite a bit about being the arm candy of Clint Bowyer and what its like for the wives and girlfriends of the sport, both at the track and at home.

A lot of it's very informative (she talks about how Clint would never, ever drive even if he had a sip of alcohol) and a lot of it's kind of humorous (she says that the WAGs even take sides when drivers get into it on the track).

The most impressive part of the still-single Barber's interview, though, was how Barber is legitimately is a NASCAR fan and car lover:

What's the best part about being a NASCAR girlfriend?

Barber: For me it was personally the fact that I just loved the sport. The fact that you could do that every weekend, be at all those tracks and be rubbing shoulders with guys that are legends and champions. That to me was awesome. [...]

You've always been around auto-racing, have you always been attracted to the drivers?

Barber: Always! I can't honestly date somebody who doesn't know stuff about cars. It drives me nuts. If I know more about cars than a guy, it's just not gonna happen! It might be the nicest guy in the world, but it's a total turn-off to me.

Later in the interview, she even talks about her favorite car of all-time, the 89-93 generation of the Ford Mustang, which, to me, solidifies her auto enthusiasm as quite realistic.

Barber seems well-educated enough about the sport, and the fact that she doesn't want to really date another NASCAR driver because she doesn't want to be labeled as a girl that gets around the sport is pretty classy.

She's attractive, classy, and loves cars.

FHM: Thank you. Clint Bowyer: What the heck were you thinking?