MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ISM RACEWAY
TICKETGUARDIAN 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 6, 2019
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to preview the race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE PHOENIX RACE IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE?
“Yeah, I mean I think it’s going to be more like… I don’t think it’s going to change short track racing nearly as much as it is going to change everywhere else, we go. I think it will look more like what you saw in 2014/2015 when we had a lot of downforce at the short tracks. I’m looking forward to it. Obviously, the reconfiguration made restarts pretty crazy and I love that race track. It will be fun. It’s going to be a little faster than it was last year just with more downforce, but that is really all I feel like is going to change.”
WHEN YOU GO FROM ATLANTA AND VEGAS TO A TRACK LIKE PHOENIX AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU’VE GOT 250 HORSEPOWER BACK IS THAT A TRANSITION AGAIN? IS IT LIKE GOING FROM THE XFINITY CAR TO THE CUP CAR LAST YEAR?
“I don’t think so. I think we’ve all raced enough and driven enough different stuff that it’s kind of business as usual going to a short track. These cars never since they were the open motors back in 2014, since they’ve taken that away the motors have never really felt like they made a ton of horsepower at these bigger tracks. You are kind of wound up to what you get to and you don’t really have a ton of power off the corner regardless. I think the short tracks have always been different in that sense so it’s really not that much new.”
HOW HAS GOING BACK TO ARIZONA CHANGED OVER THE YEARS FOR YOU?
“That’s a tough question. I feel like it’s a place I look forward to going to especially with some strong runs that I’ve had there at Phoenix. I used to really not look forward to it. I had some pretty rough years there driving for some smaller teams. Going back with Hendrick Motorsports is always something I look forward to. We had two good cars there last year and had a mechanical problem the first race and the second race got caught up in a crash, but I think we can always be really strong there.”
DO YOU FEEL ANY MORE SENSE OF URGENCY TO WIN AT PHOENIX KNOWING THAT YOU WEREN’T VERY GOOD AT ATLANTA WHAT IF OUR INTERMEDIATE PROGRAM TAKES AWHILE TO GET IT PICKED UP?
“Not necessarily. I go every week to win. I mean every single week I go to the race track I go to win. I don’t go got try to run top 10 or try to run top five or try to have a good points day or whatever. I just want to go win. I don’t really care about much else, so I think it’s a good opportunity for us to go win a race and I think our race cars tend to be really good there, but other than that each and every week my approach is the same and the focus is the same. That is to going and trying to win races.”
TO RUN AS WELL AS YOU DID IN YOUR NO. 88 DEBUT AT PHOENIX CAN YOU CARRY THAT CONFIDENCE WITH YOU WHEN YOU GO BACK?
“Yeah for sure. I would say there and Charlotte are probably my two most confident places that I go as far as just feeling like I know what I need and can approach the race track, can maybe have a little advantage on some guys. It’s a lot of fun for me to go there because I feel like I typically run well and really know what I’m looking for. So, yeah, definitely.”
WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT NETWORK DO YOU STILL HAVE IN ARIZONA?
“Yeah my whole family is still there. Definitely always cool to go home and see them and have them out at the race track. You know I moved away pretty young and didn’t really keep in touch with a ton of people. I more kept in touch with people that I kind of grew up racing with and just friends from Arizona, but my whole family is still there.”
DOES EVERYBODY COME TO THE TRACK FOR THE WHOLE WEEKEND?
“Typically I go to dinner with them one night if I can and everybody will come on Sunday. They are not there all weekend, but they will be there Sunday and it depends. My brothers will probably hang out at my bus and not even walk down and see the race track, others will sit in the stands, it just depends.”
YOU DON’T HAVE LIKE AUNT AND UNCLES STUFF LIKE THAT?
“So, it will be my two brothers, their two wives, my mom, my step-mom, my dad and my grandma. That is really about it. And then, my grandma kind of invites everybody she knows and turns it into a party. I think her hairdresser goes with her even. It’s kind of ridiculous. You could honestly sell that place out on my grandma’s friends. She is a little bit insane, but you will have that I guess.”
IS THERE ANY DIFFERENT KEY TO GETTING AROUND PHOENIX WITH THIS NEW CONFIGURATION?
“I think it really just changed restarts. It changed pit road as well, but it changed restarts quite a bit. So, you have to approach that a little differently. Driving the race track is still the same obviously, but just how you approach your restarts has definitely changed up quite a bit.”
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