NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
MEDIA DAY
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An interview with:
CLINT BOWYER, NO. 15 5-HOUR ENERGY CHEVROLET SS:
Q. What do you expect to make out of this gap year, it’s like a tweener year?
CLINT BOWYER: That is the question, right? What do you do? I mean, it’s a year. I guess this is where my head is and what I’ve been thinking, what I want to use as a goal.
I want to be able to come in here and help Harry build his company to where he wants it, to where it can stand on its own two feet and be a better place than what it was when I came. I think we can do that.
I think we can lean on these alliances. You got to think, we’ve got alliances with Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing, pretty big powerhouses in this sport.
But it’s going to be all about using those resources and alliances. If I can do that and get my foot in the door, be an asset to them, I think we can even get more in return. If we fail to be an asset to them, I think it’s going to be stagnant and we’re going to have to be doing things the hard way.
When you say that, there’s not the resources, the manpower that I’ve been accustomed to. 500 employees at RCR, 275 I think at MWR. I think it’s 40 here. It’s definitely a huge difference between where I’ve been and even where I’m going next.
But at the end of the day I really enjoy Harry. He’s a good guy. Addington, I’ve watched him win a lot of races, have success in this sport over the years. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a year and we’ve got to make sure we make the most out of it.
Q. (No microphone.)
CLINT BOWYER: It was weird. I heard about it through a friend. I was, like, I said, I don’t know. He kept saying, Bull crap, I know you know, this is big.
I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. I literally hang up with him, I’m talking to Kasey and Chip in the shop. Have you seen anything on Twitter about Tony? What the hell is that all about?
30 seconds later Zippy texts me, Hey, can you take a call?
It’s serious. That’s how all that transpired.
But, you know, how would you ever make that happen 12 days before the season, before you’re going to be racing at Daytona? And furthermore, I wanted Tony to come back. I’m glad that he chose to come back. However many races that is, we need him here, and I want him to come back and get back to his running up front and winning ways.
Q. When you took that phone call from Zipadelli, how far down the road did the discussions get?
CLINT BOWYER: First of all, there wasn’t any discussion about that. Just informing that Tony had gotten hurt. You hear a lot of things and stuff like that. At the end of the day, we were hammering down over at Harry Scott, literally as far as I didn’t even have my seat mounted yet where I could get a pour to get my seat mounted.
We were pressed for time getting things down.
Q. Similar situation to Kurt in 2012.
CLINT BOWYER: And he ran good. You know, he ran better than expectations. Damn, he damn near beat me at Sonoma. He almost won a race. I think that that’s doable. I think you can sneak in and win a race. If you could do that, that would be monumental for a team like this, in a situation like this.
I do believe we could back into the Chase. I think we could be consistent enough with some of my things that I’ve done over the years. Consistency has been one of my strong points. If we can get the cars close enough where you’re not having to drive over the capabilities to get the job done. At the end of the day, last year, you’re in a situation where you’re frustrated, you’re accustomed to running a certain way, and it kept landsliding worse and worse, you’re driving harder and harder, you’re wrecking. You’re doing things you’re having to do, but you have to try because the other result is not acceptable.
Q. Take a win if you can get it, get points?
CLINT BOWYER: Absolutely. I mean, you’ve just got to be solid week in and week out. You’ve got to build a platform. These guys have certainly not ran the way they want to run. That’s why Harry chose to do this and put me in it.
He’s got good alliances. He’s got the right pieces. He’s buying the right pieces from the right people. We got to make sure that we put them together correctly and get consistent, first and foremost. Then hopefully, you know, get us a win.
I want to win. It’s been a long time.
Q. Was part of this deal being attractive adding to the relationship with Zippy, you would get a pipeline to technology?
CLINT BOWYER: Yeah, well, I mean, obviously there was opportunities, other opportunities. It was really probably more appealing at times in certain ways you look at it.
At the end of the day with where I’m headed, this is the right fit. Being in the same equipment, I already moved my crew to carbon seats. I never ran carbon seats. Had this opportunity not come along, I probably wouldn’t have done it.
I went over to Stewart-Haas, seat guy came over, gave me Harvick seat rails. That’s what I did at RCR. When I came in, Harvick was there. Hell, I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like. What does his feel like? Put it in.
Did the same thing when I came over here. Kevin and I talked about it. I said, Hey, I’m coming to steal all your stuff. I don’t want to do it the hard way, it will take forever.
So the pedals, seat brackets, seat mounts are Kevin’s. Which, by the way, he runs pretty good, so I figured if you’re going to pick anybody’s, pick his.
Q. (No microphone.)
CLINT BOWYER: I said back into the Chase. If you’re going to win in today’s day and age, you’re not backing into nothing. You’re going to have to go out and get it.
But, I mean, the Chase, I think you can be consistent enough that you back into the backside of the Chase and be part of a pretty elite deal. That would be something spectacular for Harry Scott and definitely a feather in his hat that he can sell and bring future partners, as he’s looking for another driver. In all these things, that’s going to be attractive to all those situations.
Q. Did you feel you could help him as a driver? He said he hasn’t spent a lot of time with you yet, but he’s looking forward to it.
CLINT BOWYER: Yeah, you know, that’s something that, hey, I do think I am good at. I think I am a good teammate. I think I’ve proven that over the years. I’ll do anything to help a teammate out because you need them. You need them to help you, as well.
I need Michael to run good. So when he’s doing something a little bit different at a track, he’s having some success, I know that I can put it in my car and have the same.
Q. Do you think each year you’re away from MWR, you kind of shed that controversy that pretty much took a big hit in your popularity, that you’ll be able to gain that popularity back with the fans?
CLINT BOWYER: At the end of the day it doesn’t matter one thing or the other. Popularity comes from one thing: winning. That’s the only thing that fixes all. If you run bad, you’re not going to be talked about. The positive talks are pretty much to an end. That’s it.
There’s nobody that runs mediocre in this sport and is talked about unless they do something stupid to make you talk about it.
Q. (No microphone.)
CLINT BOWYER: No, again, what a great partner. What a perfect fit. It’s been a lot of fun, something I take a great deal of pride in. But, you know, what a deal. Look at the world, almost from the word ‘go’ clear back to 2012, it’s been a rollercoaster.
I’m looking forward to getting some of that behind me. I need to have a good year. That’s the other thing about this year, I need personally, just talking about what you alluded to, I need to get back up front and running good. I don’t like running bad. I’m in this sport. This isn’t just a job. I can get a job anywhere. I have a dealership if I want to go to work. I don’t want to work. I want to go race and run up front.
Q. Delicate question to ask.
CLINT BOWYER: But you’re going to do it anyway.
Q. You’re replacing a three-time champion. Like you said, you’re having fun. You made the Chase last year.
CLINT BOWYER: I believe this. You get me a car capable of winning, I’ll win in it. I’ve always done that. When you look at my whole career and the stats, it’s just like when you’re working on contracts and stuff, it’s really easy to figure out where I’m going to ride because it’s extremely consistent and there’s always a void in it. I had a bad year at RCR, switched crew chiefs, went back to the exact same how I ran.
Had a good year in ’13, got to the Chase, and all hell broke loose.
’14 was a complete catastrophe. ’15 was even worse. They’re closing the door. It just kept getting worse and worse and worse.
I’m ready to get things back pointed in the right direction. I know Stewart-Haas, replacing Tony Stewart, getting my butt in that seat, I’m capable of getting the done.
As a racecar driver, it’s a mental thing. You’ve got to be in equipment that can get the job done. And I mean know it. No bullshit. You’ve got to know that that thing can win on any given Sunday. If you don’t, it’s hard to win in it.
Q. (Question regarding confidence.)
CLINT BOWYER: No, because there’s other gauges, too. I always look at, you know, you don’t race your teammates, but it’s a good gauge to gauge yourself off of. If you’re in a situation at a big race team, and you have teammates, and they’re steady drumming your butt, right off the bat you’re looking at yourself, how is he driving better than me, what is he doing to be faster than me.
Then you start looking at how is he communicating with his crew chief. How are they doing better than us.
That’s healthy. I need that. I need to know that it’s me ’cause I can fix that.
Q. (No microphone.)
CLINT BOWYER: That’s a great question because he was standing right behind you. He was standing right back there. It’s always been Jeff Burton. He’s always been a teammate that’s been there for you. When he tells you something, you can believe it. It’s what you want to be. That’s what you aspire to be in a teammate for somebody else.
Whether it’s a contract situation or a decision on a race team or anything else, he’s always been a good go-to guy to have a good gauge on where you need to be.
Going back to the last question, is it me, what’s wrong, why are we not running where I want to run. You know, he’ll tell you. He’ll flat tell you, You need to work harder. You need to do this better. You need to get off your ass. This is not just going to happen for you. That’s what we all need from time to time.
Q. (No microphone.)
CLINT BOWYER: No (laughter). I like good love. Nobody likes tough love.
Again, I’m a competitor. This is a level in sport where your talents can take you so far, but you’ve got to be aligned with some really talented people and good equipment or you’re just not going to be where you want to be. I believe that.
Q. Have you thought about how you’re handling this year, not looking forward, worrying only about 2016?
CLINT BOWYER: Not really. I mean, it’s just been such a whirlwind. You just got to go out there and drive your ass off and do the best you can. That’s what you do each and every week.
But the difference is I got to help these guys, you know what I mean? I got here. We went to the shop, a couple things weren’t right. You know, I started to get pissed. I’m like, Damn, we talked about this.
You stop and you realize January 1st, this place didn’t even have a car in it. We were painting the floors January 1st when I walked in the door.
Finally, I went down there and said, Hey, man, this is serious. Where is our stuff? This is a month out, we’ve got to go.
The amount of work by the amount of people in the short amount of time that it happened is pretty incredible. So you just got to realize the situation and you’ve got to be able to be the better person and help the situation be what it needs to be.
Q. (No microphone.)
CLINT BOWYER: I think so. The reason I say that is the cars that we’re buying, when I’m building these cars, we’re buying them from people that win races. They better be able to win. If they’re not, I’m going to call them out on it.
Q. Getting the same stuff coming off the assembly line at Stewart-Haas Racing?
CLINT BOWYER: That’s what the sheet says (laughter).
Q. You’re getting the latest?
CLINT BOWYER: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We bought some cars, liked speedway cars, definitely, it was one of last year’s cars for them. It was a Stewart-Haas car. It wasn’t a Hendrick car. Then from that we have a set number of cars that we’re going to be getting from them and racing.
You know, I love the Daytona 500. I want to win this thing more than anything. I’ve run good down here before. I was a little bit disappointed in the speed in the car, but everybody knows you can have the fastest car in the world, but if the slowest car is in front of you, you have to push them, especially if they put you in a situation where you can’t go anywhere but push them. That’s what I’m planning on doing.
I’m looking forward to getting to Atlanta, getting to some of these mile-and-a-half’s where you know that’s where you have to be solid and know what we have.
Q. You know RCR well. Why do you think they’ve struggled over the last couple years since Harvick left, since you left?
CLINT BOWYER: That guy left and won a championship. You still have to have the driver sitting in the seat. He’s got to be able to get the job done. Kevin is one of the best drivers in this sport. I think you’re seeing that now that he’s in different equipment.
Q. (No microphone.)
CLINT BOWYER: No, no, just do my own stuff. I have a lawyer, a team. Not really a reason to have agents anymore, in my opinion. Allen did a good job and set me up with a lot of good things that the whole rest of my life is going to benefit from, there’s no question about that. But once you get those things set up, I don’t even think you sign a check, I think it wires automatically in today’s day and age.
Q. Has your team looked at your contract, given what has recently happened with the charters, as far as how the money will be distributed?
CLINT BOWYER: That’s the weird thing, is I’ve got a year here that it’s one thing, then obviously a multi-year commitment that we’re going to have to make right. But I’m really not worried about it. I like the way everybody does business at Stewart-Haas. They’re always up front and fair. I think it’s just a matter of figuring out what the math is and making it work.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
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