Ford Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Hollywood Casino 400 (Kansas Speedway)
Friday, October 19, 2018
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Dekalb Ford Fusion — HOW IS YOUR CAR RUNNING AND HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST CAME TO THE SERIES TO GET USED TO WORKING WITH ALL THE TELEMETRY AND INFORMATION? “I don’t think there is any such thing as too much information in today’s day in age. It is crazy how you can dissect every aspect of such a simple thing, a race car going through the corner and on a 1.5 mile track going really fast. I am fortunate enough to have three good teammates and I can look at their throttle trace, steering trace, brake trace and get a good idea of what I need to do different or what I need to do different with the setup to enable me to do that. It is always tricky, this format, when you have to unload and all you have is a 50-minute practice on Friday. You have to be in qualifying trim. You don’t get a chance to go out there and feel it out and make sure the thing is good and bolt a set of tires on it and make a qualifying run. You have to be fast off the bat and I am not very good at that. I have to feel it out and test the waters a little and then I will go ahead and dive off into the deep end. I was off a little bit today. I knew that I got off with my throttle a little bit. You always know when you get off in the corner and you lift and the thing sticks and then you go back to the gas it is way too late. That is the difference between first and tenth, it really is, a fraction of a split second. Our cars are fast. All four of them are fast. Coming off a great weekend at Talladega. It was so much fun to be able to run 1-2-3-4 in dominant fashion with our Stewart-Haas cars. To be able to roll into home at Kansas off a great run like that with momentum and a chance to stay alive in these playoffs. It is so important and the stakes are high. It is an adrenaline rush for a race car driver. Rolling into home, a place you want to win at more than anything, and you are racing for something and in the hunt. You don’t have time for any distractions or anything else. It is go time. The money is on the line. You gotta go out there and get it.”
WAS THERE A CHANCE FOR THE FOUR OF YOU TO GET TOGETHER OVER A BEER OR IN A ROOM AND JUST BUST OUT LAUGHING AT WHAT YOU WERE ABLE TO DO? PAT EACH OTHER ON THE BACK? “No, and that is what is cool about SHR. There is none of that. There are no cocky attitudes or arrogance or anything else. Everyone works hard and are racers and were damn proud of what we accomplished last week. We all know that we have to continue to do that and continue to get better because if we are not, the next team is. There is a lot of work to be done. We need to bring a championship home to Ford. They have invested so much into their motorsports program, into Stewart-Haas in particular, each and every one of us. They invest in us. We didn’t have time for a beer because I was in Vegas on Monday doing ride alongs for Ford and taking care of their customers, their dealers across the country, they had a dealer meeting out there and we were doing ride alongs. I got the car tuned in and Aric was showing up Tuesday and Kurt on Wednesday. It has been a busy week. I was in Austin with the F1 stuff and the announcement down there and got to see that for the first time and feel their world. What a deal that was. Hauled butt back here to get ready for Kansas City.”
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS RACE TRACK, BEING FROM THIS AREA, THAT LEADS YOU TO BELIVE IT IS GOING TO BE A DOOZY THIS WEEKEND? “I am hoping it will be smooth sailing. It never is. When the stakes are high like this and everything is on the line it is never easy. Look at the competition in the garage area. If you think it will be a cake walk, we have a 21 point lead or something and that isn’t enough. I wish we didn’t have trouble in Dover. We could be having a lot of fun here and not worry about it. Aric and Chase are having a lot of fun and everyone else is working their butts off. For me, it is always an opportunity to come home and have fun but this is an opportunity for me to take care of business both on and off the race track. This is a new partnership with Dekalb and this is such a long time coming. I have always wanted to be in this industry. This is how I grew up. We live right here in the heartland of farm country. When I got home after Vegas, Cash and I woke up before daylight and he was in his pj’s and I wasn’t looking very good myself. I was fresh off a night in Vegas so you know I wasn’t looking very good. But we got our butts up and went out and scouted some deer and talked to the farmers. They are all bummed out around here. We have had so much rain and flooding around here. They are chomping at the bit to get in the fields and get their beans cut and I wish they would get cut because I want them to make money and I want my deer out of their bean fields. It was a fun week. It is a special sponsor and I am proud to have them on board.”
SO LET ME GET THIS RIGHT, THERE ARE NO EGO’S AT SHR? I THOUGHT TONY PUT YOU GUYS TOGETHER BECAUSE OF YOUR SWAGGER? “No, I don’t know about that. I hope I don’t have an ego. If I do, come whoop my butt because I deserve it. It is just a lot of pride. Everyone was extremely proud of our efforts last weekend and they should be. A lot goes into those races. Everyone wants to blow those off as a wild card race but our guys went to work and made sure we had the best chance possible because we needed that. We dug a hole at Dover and took care of business last weekend. If we can do that again this weekend we will march on into the next round.”
YOU ARE A BIG KANSAS FAN AND YOUR JACK MAN ERNIE PIERCE PLAYED FOOTBALL FOR KANSAS STATE. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP LIKE WITH HIM? ESPECIALLY WITH BASKETBALL SEASON GETTING CLOSE, WHAT IS THAT LIKE? “Chip that works for me back there went to K-State. Half of my buddies that I grew up with went to K-State and the other half went to KU. Obviously we kind of grew up closer to basketball than we did to football. If you are a Kansan, you are looking at K-State come football season and as soon as basketball season shows up you are KU all the way and rightfully so. Obviously living in North Carolina, that is pretty interesting being a KU fan. They are awful proud of their efforts out there. My pilot has kids that went to Carolina and things like that. There is a lot of trash talking going on in our little ring. Nonetheless, I am proud of everyone in Kansas. Ned (Yost) and everyone with the Royals and what they have done the last several years is incredible. The Chiefs and everything they are doing this year is something. That is awesome. Having that game moved to Sunday night, I was so happy, obviously selfishly for myself because hopefully when we get out of victory lane we are going to march right over there and watch them win that game. That is a perfect world. Either way we are going to go over there and watch them take care of business.”
CHRIS TIDWELL IS AN EMPORIA NATIVE. HOW SPECIAL IS THAT TO HAVE ANOTHER GUY AT THE CUP LEVEL FROM SUCH A SMALL TOWN? “His dad worked for my dad. LIterally I held him when he was a baby. I always remind him of that. We grew up together. He grew up living his dream with us. Going to Lakeside Speedway and watching this race track being built. When I moved to North Carolina he moved out there and went to the NASCAR Technical College and came up through there and worked at RCR when I was there. He went on to Penske and certainly lived at my house. He is always around. He is family. I am very proud of what he has been able to accomplish in his career. They will be over there camping with my folks. It is just the way it has always been.”
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR YOU TO WIN HERE AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY? “So many emotions for so many different reasons that would be gratifying. Being home, being with family and friends and everything that this area means to me. The fan following, the people that helped me hone my skills over there at Lakeside or I70 Speedway. These are the guys I raced against to learn what it is I do and made me the racer that I am. Those are all the reasons it would be gratifying to win at home.”
NEXT WEEK IS MARTINSVILLE. DO YOU EXPECT THE CAR TO BE AS GOOD AS THE SPRING WHEN YOU WON? “Yeah, for me, I spent a lot of time on an airplane this week and a lot of time thinking and just playing out where we are at. Where we are at as a race team and as far as the playoffs and opportunities ahead and things like that. I know that I have to take care of business this weekend at Kansas. We have to get in that Round of 8 because if I can do that I have two good tracks for me that historically have been good and can put me in the Round of 4 for a shot at the championship at Homestead. I love Phoenix. That is another good track for us. So this is the one that my focus and attention is on right now. This is a big deal, I know it is.”
HOW OFTEN DO YOU THINK OF THE 2007 RACE WHEN BIFFLE RAN OUT OF GAS AND YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO THE VICTORY? “I won that race. (laughter) I remember it. He cheated us. I still think about it and he still laughs about it. Hopefully I will get the last laugh one of these days. What a weird deal that was. I knew what was going on, he just played his cards better. Not really better than I did but just the best he possibly could with the deck he had. He didn’t have a very damn good hand that day but he took care of it and won that race. He got the trophy, I know that. He reminds me of that.”
WHAT WILL BE MORE COOL THIS WEEK AWAY FROM THIS TRACK? GOING TO COTA YESTERDAY OR GOING TO ARROWHEAD ON SUNDAY? “For me, Arrowhead. It was really cool to be at a F1 race. I don’t know if any of you guys have been there. Obviously, selfishly, we want you here to sell our sport of NASCAR but for an American, a race fan and a motorsports fan, that is a hell of an opportunity to have a global presence come to our country and race in front of us. The pack the house. The track was awesome. My eyes were just like, ‘Wow, I want to race here.’ Not in one of those space shuttles, but I would like to race there with our sport. I think it would be an awesome opportunity. I will let them do their day job. I met the drivers, team guys and personnel. Saw everything they do and how they do it. When you go to something like that you want to learn. You can learn what we can do better in our industry. I saw a lot of things that I think we could do better with in NASCAR and I saw a lot of things that I think we do a good job of. Taking care of our fans, being approachable, conversational and available. I am no knocking on anything but I think that is always what has separated our sport from any other sport in our country. Football, baseball, any sick and ball sport. It has always been the closeness you can get to the action, the driver, the athlete, it has always been that interaction that you can have at a NASCAR race. That was way cool. The Chiefs game will be cool. Honestly though, the Dekalb folks are all here and this is a cool opportunity for me to be able to showcase their brand and the awareness of the farmers around here. You couldn’t ask for a better track to have the brand Dekalb and everybody on board with. Anywhere you look, whether it is across the street or anywhere around this place, it is all farm country and hopefully they will be out here and proud of their car on Sunday.”
ARE YOU ABLE TO GO HOME TO EMPORIA AND SEE PEOPLE OR WITH ALL YOUR COMMITMENTS IS THAT OFF THE RADAR? “Monday I was in Vegas, Tuesday I got home later that afternoon and Wednesday we went out. I was out there moving feeders and blinds and getting everything set up so that when we come back after the banquet, hopefully with a huge check, we can let our hair down and have a little fun out in the country. For me, you don’t ever get to see this time of year because the farmers are always right in the middle of the harvest and they are always busy. Because of the flooding and things we have had here they are all sitting around chomping at the bit to get their work done, so I got to hang out with quite a few of them on Wednesday, took them to lunch and just hung out.”
YOU MENTIONED LAKESIDE AND I-70. THERE IS A MOVEMENT TO REOPEN I-70. WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES AND THOUGHTS? “First thing I hope they do is rebuild the sign. That sign is legendary. When I was a kid, you knew that a good chunk of your tr to St. Louis or anywhere else was behind you because of that sign. I remember getting to that sign when we were headed east as a little kid. I will never forget those days. We had no clue what we were doing but a good group of guys that built a race car and had a ton of fun the year we were over there. We really did. You want to talk about an action track. That was the action track.”
STEWART-HAAS HAS A CHANCE TO HAVE FOUR DRIVERS IN THE ROUND OF EIGHT WHERE NO OTHER TEAM WILL PROBABLY HAVE MORE THAN ONE. IS THAT A SOURCE OF PRIDE? “If that isn’t something to celebrate I don’t know what is. I think the pride – I was telling people over there yesterday in Texas – we are the team to beat. We are the organization that is on top right now. There is a great deal of pride that goes with that and a great deal of pride that comes with the manufacturer support and help we get from Ford. That army of people behind those four cars, and we are the only ones that have all four cars that have been in victory lane. The only one still alive with all their cars, all their guys. All efforts are still all chasing a championship and that is pretty awesome.”
