NASCAR CUP SERIES
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
XFINITY 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 30, 2020
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 PLANTERS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the Round of Eight elimination race at Martinsville Speedway, what it’s going to take to advance into the Championship Four, the biggest challenges of racing at Martinsville, and more. Transcript:
ALEX, WHAT IS THE ART OF RACING AT MARTINSVILLE AND PASSING THERE? WHAT’S THE CHALLENGE AT MARTINSVILLE?
“I think it really just comes down to a lot of patience. Martinsville is a place where it’s easy to burn your stuff up early. It’s easy to get really frustrated early, take yourself out and get a lot of damage. It’s probably the only place where if you don’t have a right-front fender on it, you’re going to go faster because you’re going to keep the tire cooler. But it’s a little hard to accomplish that without tearing anything else up. It’s really just all about patience and knowing when to go, when to save, how to race guys throughout the race. It’s such a long race – 500 laps around there is a really long day. You just have to be there at the end. But, I’m excited to go. I feel like we were really strong there earlier this year and we should be good when we get back there.”
GIVEN HOW MUCH IS ON THE LINE, HOW IS YOUR PATIENCE LEVEL? YOU’RE NOT REALLY A HOT-HEAD, RIGHT? WHAT DOES MARTINSVILLE DO TO YOU?
“Yeah, I think for us, we’re ten-tenths every weekend, so it’s not really like you can turn it up. I don’t necessarily think there’s a ‘be more aggressive and you’re magically going to transfer through the Playoffs’ scenario for us. If we’re running second on the last lap and I can get to the leader, yeah, they’re going to get moved. But, you can’t move fifteen guys to get to the leader. You have to put yourself in that situation to begin with. We’ll be aggressive when it counts and for the right reasons, but we’re not going to be overly-aggressive for no reason.”
WE HEARD MANY YEARS NOW THAT MARTINSVILLE IS CONSIDERED THAT ONE TRACK WHERE PAYBACKS ARE POSSIBLE. HOW HARD IS IT TO KEEP YOUR PATIENCE IN A RACE, KNOWING THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOMEBODY THAT MAY HAVE SOMETHING AGAINST YOU? AND DO YOU KEEP A GRUDGE FOR A LONG TIME AND LET THAT KIND OF SIMMER DOWN THE ROAD?
“I feel like all racecar drivers keep grudges for a long time. I’m really excited to watch the Truck race for that reason.”
“Yeah, I think we haven’t really had any run-ins with anybody this year, for the most part. So, that’s probably good. I don’t really know that I have anybody mad at me going into Martinsville and I don’t really know that I’m mad at anybody going into Martinsville. So, I’m just focused on doing my thing and running my own race. The guys that are frustrated with other people and do have people mad at them – Martinsville is obviously a place where it’s just easier to have it show up because you’re a little more aggravated in general, just because how hard it is to pass and how easy it is to run somebody down and then kind of just get stuck there.”
IF THERE ARE A COUPLE OF GUYS THAT HAVE HAD RECENT ISSUES AND THEY’RE RACING SIDE-BY-SIDE, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THAT INFORMATION?
“Yeah, I feel like my spotter does a pretty good job of doing that, even when like if somebody’s had an issue earlier in the race or a couple races ago. He does a good job of just letting me know kind of what the situation is, and sometimes it dissipates and sometimes it doesn’t.”
SOMEONE COULD JUST LOOK AT YOUR SHORT HISTORY AT MARTINSVILLE AND GO ‘OH, THIS GUY’S GOING TO BE IN A TOUGH SPOT’. BUT YOU HAD A GOOD FINISH AT THE FIRST RACE THERE EARLIER THIS YEAR. EIGHT OF YOUR LAST 10-FINISHES HAVE BEEN TOP-10 OR BETTER. SO, I IMAGINE YOU’RE GOING INTO THIS RACE, EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE BELOW THE CUT-OFF LINE, STILL WITH A LOT OF CONFIDENCE. TAKE ME THROUGH YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO THIS RACE.
“Yeah, I feel like we’ve built a lot of confidence as a race team throughout the last two months or so. Whether we transfer to the Round of Four or not, I feel like we have a lot to be proud of over the last 10 races or so. We really should have all top-10’s through the Playoffs so far, just Bristol we had a tire issue and Talladega we got caught up in a crash. I think how much we’ve overcome this year as a race team and how strong we’ve been here at the end of the year, we have a lot to be proud of and we can continue to carry that momentum into next year regardless of if we make the final round or not. Obviously, we’re going to do everything we can to try to make that final round. Right now, it kind of looks like that everything we can is going to mean a win. So, hopefully we can go try and make that happen. But, regardless, we want to finish the season strong and do the best we can. I’m definitely proud of where we are as a race team right now.”
DO YOU SORT OF FEEL LIKE YOU’RE PLAYING WITH HOUSE MONEY, TO CERTAIN DEGREE?
“Yeah, I think so. I think our goal was to make the Round of Eight and we made the Round of Eight. Through the first two races, we had the best average finish of all the Playoff guys through this round. I think we’re probably over-performing from what a lot of people thought we were going to do, but I think we have a lot more left in us and I definitely feel like we’re playing with house money.”
YOU’RE PROBABLY A LITTLE BIASED IN ANSWERING THIS, BUT LOOKING AHEAD TO PHOENIX, YOUR THOUGHTS ON IT HOSTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALE AND THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT IT HAS DONE, IN TERMS OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND EVERYTHING?
“Yeah, I think it’s really cool that Phoenix is hosting that race. For me, I’ve been a fan there quite a bit, so I kind of feel like I know how that place is now and how it was before. I think the improvements are really great. Moving the grandstands was a great decision because I got absolutely roasted in the grandstands where they were before and obviously getting some more shade is great for all the race fans. It created a lot of excitement with the restart zone.”
“But I think you look at racetracks, like Talladega – it gets this amazing reputation because of Talladega Boulevard, how the camping is so wild, and the fans. Phoenix is really underrated when it comes to that. The campgrounds at Phoenix are absolutely wild. They’re huge – they go as far as you can see. And the fans there are incredible. So, I think it’s a really deserving track of that final race. It puts on a great show. The racetrack itself is great. The fans are great. I think it has a lot of good aspects. And I feel like they about sell-out that event all the time. Obviously, we have a really strong fan engagement there and it makes a great fit for us.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HAVING KYLE LARSON AS YOUR NEW TEAMMATE AND HIM BEING THE OLDEST GUY ON THE TEAM? HE SAID YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN TALKING A LITTLE DIRT RACING RECENTLY.
“Yeah, I’m happy that there’s somebody older than me still – I don’t have to be the old guy on campus. Yeah, we’ve talked a lot, really just a lot about dirt racing lately – that’s kind of all we’ve been talking about. I’ve been leaning on him quite a bit, just with the winged sprint car that we just built and just trying to kind of understand more about wing racing, and flow questions through him to his crew chief, Paul Silva. That’s been a big help for me. So, I’m looking forward to it. Obviously, one of the most talented drivers of our generation. Looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the table.”
DID YOU EVER GET YOUR SIMULATOR TIME FOR MARTINSVILLE?
“I did – I ended up in there yesterday. I just got a quick hour in there, but it was definitely helpful and glad we got it worked out.”
DO YOU LIKE THIS QUICK TURNAROUND FOR MARTINSVILLE OR WOULD YOU RATHER BE ABLE TO SIT AROUND, THINK ABOUT IT SOME MORE, PLAN SOME MORE? OR IS IT BETTER TO JUST GET THERE AND NOT THINK ABOUT IT TOO MUCH?
“Yeah, for me, there’s not really a lot of sitting around and thinking about it. My weeks are pretty busy. I’ve definitely had a lot of things to try and fit into yesterday and today. So, a lot of running around, errands to run and stuff like that. Obviously, in a perfect world, you’d have a little more time to spread that stuff out. But I’m excited to kind of keep the momentum that we have and carry that over to Martinsville. If the short turnaround time helps that, then that’s good.”
I KNOW YOU PROBABLY HAVEN’T HAD A LOT OF TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOUR FOCUS IS FINISHING OUT THE SEASON, BUT NEXT YEAR, GOING INTO THAT NO. 48, HOW MUCH MOTIVATION IS IT FOR YOU TO TRY AND GET OUT FROM UNDERNEATH THAT SHADOW, SO TO SPEAK? JIMMIE JOHNSON RAN IT FOR SO LONG AND NOW YOU’RE GOING TO BE IN IT AND YOU WANT TO MAKE IT YOUR OWN. HOW IS THAT A MOTIVATING FACTOR?
“Yeah, for sure. I think it’s very similar to driving the No. 88 car, just taking over for Dale Jr. Obviously, different circumstances – Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) was probably the most popular of all-time. And then you have Jimmie (Johnson), who is probably the greatest of all-time. To go from one to the other, I definitely want to make the No. 48 car my own. I’m excited to get to work with Ally. They’ve been really cool and really open to kind of leaning on me to do whatever I want – kind of steer it my direction, which is really neat. I’m excited to be able to be myself. The biggest thing for me is, I’m not Jimmie Johnson. I wish I was Jimmie Johnson, but I’m not. I wish I was like 50 percent of Jimmie Johnson, but I’m not. So, just trying to be myself and go out and perform. I just want to perform and win races. When it comes down to it, that’s the top of the list for me – winning races and trying to add to the legacy of that car. It will forever have been made famous by Jimmie, but hopefully we can add to it a little bit.”
HOW DO YOU LIKE THESE ONE-DAY SHOWS?
“I love it. It’s the best thing we’ve ever done. Obviously, a terrible set of circumstances and we hate that there are less fans around and hate everything that’s caused it. But I’m a big fan of the one-day shows. The little bit of extra time at home is definitely nice. But being able to race as much as we did as quickly as we did with the one-day shows, as well, was really cool. It kind of brought me back to growing up racing. It was one-day shows everywhere. You’d hot lap, heat race and then the feature race. The lack of practice and the one-day shows, I’m all for it.”
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