MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
SOUTH POINT 400
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA PLAYOFF DAY
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1 ROTATION HIGHLIGHTS:
HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS COMPARED TO LAST YEAR? “I definitely feel more confident, and that comes from the speed that we’ve shown during the year. Even lately we’ve had great speed, we just haven’t really got anything to show for it. I think we have as good of a shot as anybody going in, and win a couple of races here and make a big statement here in the playoffs.”
DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY HERE AT LAS VEGAS TO CAPITALIZE RIGHT AWAY? “I think so for sure. This is a race we have had circled regardless of the playoffs. I think we can be really strong. We were strong here in the Spring and I knocked the right rear off of it, and we kind of had to fight back from that. I think our mile-an-a-half program is really good. It is the same car we won Chicago with so I am really confident.”
ARE YOU AN IMPROVED TEAM FROM A YEAR AGO? “I think we are definitely an improved team from where we were a year ago. We were just trying to be consistently in the top-10 just on speed last year and really struggled with that, and struggled with consistency. This year we have a lot of speed; we just have to finish where we should. I think the speed has really made a big difference for us.”
IS HAVING TWO TEAMMATES IN THE PLAYOFFS WITH YOU A BENEFIT? “I think it Is really important to have as many cars from HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) in the playoffs as possible. Once we get going, we all still lean on each another as much as we do during the normal season. It’s not really a huge positive or a negative from where I sit, but obviously it is a positive for the race team. We want to get all three cars as far as we can.”
ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR TRACKS IN THE PLAYOFFS THAT YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO? “Yes, I think here (Las Vegas), Kansas, Dover – there is a lot of really good race tracks for us.”
SINCE THE WIN, HAS THERE HAS BEEN INCONSISTENCY? IS THE TEAM DOWN AT ALL? “It has been a rough patch since we did win in Chicago. Had a flat right front running top-five at Kentucky. Crashed at Darlington and Indy. We had a lot of really strong races going for us. Ran out of fuel at Watkins Glen. Some things haven’t gone our way and we’ve been off in some places. This is as good a week as any to kickstart our luck. Same car as we won with at Chicago. We can be really strong this week. We are ready to go win. I think the off week was good for us going into Darlington. We ran really strong in the race. Got into the top-five and knocked the right rear off of it. That’s on me. Then we go to Indy. We are running top-five and we crash. We’ve had more speed the last two weeks than we’ve had for awhile. I think the team is in a good place. This is a place we really have had circled since we won Chicago. We knew that Vegas was going to be a really good race track for us.”
HOW IS THE PRESSURE GOING INTO VEGAS AND THE FIRST RACES TO GET TO THE NEXT ROUND? “There is definitely some added pressure that comes with it. As a driver you really want to make the next round an continue as far through it as you can and go run for a championship. But I welcome that pressure. I feel like my career has kind of been made by performing under those high-pressure situations. I’m all for it and ready to go. You are ten-tenths every weekend and doing everything you can every weekend. There isn’t really a lot more than you can do. I think you kind of see people crack under the pressure. People make mistakes. I’m one that kind of enjoys the pressure and wants to make the best of it.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
