NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY MEDIA DAY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 12, 2020
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Daytona 500 Media Day Highlights:
WITH JIMMIE (JOHNSON) LEAVING, DO YOU GUYS GET A SENSE OF SOMEONE WHO CAN FILL THAT LEADERSHIP ROLE AT HENDRICK?
“That really hasn’t got brought up a whole lot. Obviously, from the driver role, I feel like all four of us bring something different to the table, are able to look at things differently and help each other. At the same time, I feel like Jeff Gordon does a really good job of being really involved and having a driving background helps from our side of things. But we haven’t really talked about it, so it will be interesting to see.”
BEING THAT LEADER, DOES THAT JUST HAPPEN ORGANICALLY?
“Yeah, I think so, for sure. You can’t just walk in and say, ‘hey, I’m going to be the leader of this deal’. It definitely has to happen organically over time. We’ll have to wait and see how that happens, who it is and all that.”
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“Not really, most of the time we’re around each other is at the race track. Obviously, you see in driver intros, he (Chase Elliott) gets a lot of cheers. He’s a really popular guy and it’s really cool to see. He’s a really good guy and a big asset to HMS.”
“I think he handles it great. From my side of things, I’m not a huge fan of a ton of attention. So, I don’t envy that by any means with all the attention he gets. But I think he does a good job at it.”
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR 2020?
“We have to go win more races, be more consistent, just be a little more competitive than we were last year. Last year, we had a lot of hot streaks that were really strong and then I kind of fell off at the wrong times and had some bad days that we didn’t need. If we can just go be more consistent and more competitive consistently, I think that’s what we need to go do.”
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“Jeff (Gordon) still spends a ton of time with the race team. I had dinner with him the other night; he’s a huge asset to HMS. Obviously, he’s super involved and that’s been great to get to learn from him and lean on him. Obviously, Jimmie (Johnson) has a ton of experience and he’s a little bit more immediately accessible at times to lean on. But Jeff, is really good to have as well.”
DO YOU ANTICIPATE JIMMIE (JOHNSON) GOING INTO THAT SAME ROLE STARTING NEXT YEAR?
“I think he has other things he wants to do and other things he wants to race. I think you’re going to see him race other stuff, and I’m excited to see what that is and how successful he is at it. He’s a super talented race car driver no matter what you put him in and I think he’s going to be really successful.”
THOUGHTS ON TANDEM OCCURING IN THE RACE.
“I think we’ve seen some guys try it in practice and it not really work, specifically with the Chevy’s. It doesn’t seem to work. The Fords seem to be able to push a little stronger and, obviously the Toyotas with a bunch of damage, it worked. But who knows how much of that was caused by the damage and how much it wasn’t. So, it’s hard to say. I don’t know how much we’ll attempt it any more than we already have in practice. The Duel, for us, is about not tearing something up. I’m not going to go attempt it in the Duel in any means.”
“I don’t think you do have to tandem. I think if the tandem was the way to go, you would immediately see it pop up like it did a couple years ago, and in the Trucks and Xfinity cars. I think it’s just not as doable without damage or a situation that causes it. It’s not something you’re just going to look for somebody and go tandem with them. I think you actually almost slow yourself down if you do that. I think there’s definitely some bump-drafting that you’re going to have to do. But I don’t think the lock-up, three laps together tandem is going to happen.”
“I think you can get away with a straightaway, for sure. Pushing in the corners becomes really, really difficult once you’re all the way up to speed. On restarts, I think it’s doable.”
WHAT ROLE DOES HANDLING PLAY AT THIS TRACK?
“I think handling is really important at the speedway races, I think more than a lot of people give it credit for. Just so you’re able to be aggressive and not hesitant to add wheel to the car or put yourself in aggressive situations. Sometimes, the cars get pretty out of shape. At the end of runs, if you can be more aggressive than other guys, I think that’s a big advantage. For the first ten laps, I think everyone’s stuff drives pretty well. Once the tires fall off, I think handling is really key. I think that’s why you look at a lot of people kind of getting away from chasing Daytona 500 qualifying to just build more handling into their car. You look at us, we’ll change a lot after the Duel to get more handling back in the car. I think it’s really important.”
THE TOYOTA’S WERE SHOWING MORE SPEED THIS YEAR IN QUALIFYING. IS THAT A LITTLE BIT OF A CONCERN OR EYE-OPENER?
“I don’t really think so. I think it’s kind of business as usual. Speedways, it’s so situational. All three manufacturers have cars that have a shot. I think it’s really situational, how your race plays out and how you manage your race. When I was on the pole for the 500 a couple of years ago, I think the 11 car was on the outside pole. They’ve definitely had speed before. So, we’ll just have to wait to see how the race plays out.”
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“Every year is pivotal. Nobody is ever safe; it doesn’t matter what a piece of paper says. If somebody doesn’t want you to drive their race car anymore, you’re not going to drive their race car anymore. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at a year and been like it doesn’t matter. I think every year is really, really important. I feel like everyone at HMS has a lot of faith in me to go run really strong. I think if they didn’t, I wouldn’t be here to do my job. Every year is important and we definitely need to go run well.”
YOU MENTIONED THE BUMPERS LINING UP AND THE NEW MODIFICATIONS TO THE CAR. HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE HAS THAT MADE VERSUS LAST YEAR?
“I don’t really feel like we have a great grasp on how different it is or isn’t. Obviously, there was a lot of fuel strategy going on in the Clash. It’s hard to say how that was going to play out. For myself, right when we were about to go racing again, we got crashed on that restart. So, I don’t really have a clue what it’s going to be like. I think the new Camaro’s look really strong so far and I think everything is looking really positive for it.”
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE JIMMIE JOHNSON STORY?
“In 2014, when I was driving my first year in Cup for a low-budget team, he was like the first guys to come up to me and be like, ‘you’re doing a really good job with that car’. I think we had just run Vegas or something and he was like, ‘man, that thing looked terrible, but you’re doing a really good job’. So, he was like the first guy to come up and say that. I thought that was really cool because I didn’t know him at all before that. But just really being able to be around him, see the type of person that he is and just try to be a sponge when he’s around. He’s more successful than anyone that is racing right now and he’s also the most humble guy in the garage. He’s just a great human-being and the way he carries himself has been really cool to learn from.”
“That was a big confidence booster. It’s hard to have a lot of confidence when a good day is 25th. When a guy like Jimmie comes up and says something, it’s just really neat and I really appreciate it.”
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CONCERN YOU WANT NASCAR TO ADDRESS THE MOST?
“To be honest with you, I’m more focused on me, my success, how I run on the race track than really anything else. So, I spend my time thinking about that. You have guys that have big ideas on what they see as the future of the sport and what they do or don’t want for the sport. For me, I’m just focused on running the best I can each and every week.”
IN THIS ROOM TODAY, I’VE HEARD THE WORD ‘MANUFACTURERS’ SAID A LOT MORE THAN I HAVE IN RECENT YEARS HERE. FROM A DRIVER’S STANDPOINT, IS THERE ANY COMMUNICATION FROM CHEVROLET OR A TIME WHERE CHEVROLET DRIVERS BEYOND YOUR TEAMMATES GET TOGETHER? WHAT’S THE MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATION LIKE?
“Yeah, I think you’ve kind of seen the speedway races kind of morph into manufacturers working together throughout the last couple of years. Last year, we did it a lot with the Chevrolet’s. But I think some of the other manufacturers definitely started it and we just tried to tweak it to make it a little better. At the end of the day, it’s hard to make it work at times. Last year, there were definitely meetings that we all sat in together and talked about trying to work together. It’s hard to line it all up and make it all work. If we can push other Chevy’s and work together, we’re going to do it.”
