NASCAR CUP SERIES
PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 31, 2021
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript:
THERE WAS SOME TALK ABOUT THE DENNY HAMLIN AND JOEY LOGANO RIVALRY. YOU KIND OF STAY OUT OF THE MIX AND CONTROVERSIES. WHAT’S THE BIGGEST FEUD YOU’VE EVER HAD WITH ANOTHER DRIVER? DO YOU PURPOSELY TRY TO STAY OUT OF CONTROVERSY? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FEUDS ON THE RACETRACK BETWEEN DRIVERS?
“We all race against each other so much that that’s going to happen, right. We’re racing against each other each and every week, so those things will happen. I’m pretty non-confrontational, so I try to somewhat avoid that. I would say my biggest feud was probably Bubba (Wallace) and I going back and forth a couple years ago. I’m glad that’s all squashed and kind of over with.”
“That stuff will happen. You get into each other; it’s just part of racing.”
GIVEN THAT SOME OF YOUR TOUGH COMPETITION HERE IN THE PLAYOFFS ARE YOUR TEAMMATES, HOW IS THE COLLABORATION GOING ON AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS?
“We’ve worked really well together all year. The four of us all get along really great. I don’t see that changing. The four of us have raced each other really hard, but we’ve all been clean. The crew chiefs are getting along well. The teams are working well together. Yeah, we’re going to be racing each other for the Championship. But we’re going to continue to work well together.”
YOU AND MICHAEL (MCDOWELL) ARE BOTH FROM ARIZONA, BUT TWO VERY DIFFERENT PLACES IN ARIZONA, TWO VERY DIFFERENT WAYS UP THE RANKS AND AT TWO VERY DIFFERENT TIMES. YOU BOTH WENT FROM START-AND-PARK TO CUP SERIES WINNERS. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MICHAEL OR WHAT IS YOUR PERCEPTION OF HIM?
“I’ve known Michael (McDowell) for quite a while. He’s a really good dude. I think it’s cool that he won the Daytona 500. It’s so cool to see somebody that’s kind of been through similar things to me in their career -at a similar point to where I was at one point in their career – have success. I don’t want to take anything away from their team, but like a lower-level team going and winning the 500. Honestly, I think he’s probably one of the best speedway drivers in the Series right now. I think he’s consistently upfront at superspeedways and he has been for a long time; in a car that’s good, but not as good as what I feel like what we bring to the racetrack. It’s cool to see him have success there.”
“Representing Arizona in the Playoffs, it’s awesome. Hopefully, we can win a Championship at home.”
MICHAEL (MCDOWELL) SAID THAT EVEN THOUGH YOU GOT INTO IT AT SONOMA A LITTLE BIT, THAT WON’T BE COMING BACK TO YOU IN THE PLAYOFFS. SO, YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT.
“Yeah, I talked to him after that and everything was good. I think the one thing about Michael (McDowell) is that he’s super nice off the racetrack and away from the racetrack. But on the racetrack, he’s extremely aggressive and one of the hardest guys to race. That’s just his racing style, so that’s just part of it.”
A NASCAR POST-SEASON IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT. YOU HAVE TEN WEEKS BEFORE YOU CROWN A CHAMPION. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO BE CHAMPIONSHIP OPERATING ON THAT KIND OF LEVEL RIGHT NOW GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS OR DO YOU FEEL LIKE TEN WEEKS YOU HAVE TIME TO BUILD UP TO THAT POINT?
“I think you need to be maximizing each and every week throughout the entirety of the Playoffs. I don’t think you can turn it up towards the end of the Playoffs. You need to be strong each and every week. While we didn’t have the summer that we wanted, I think we can have a great Playoff run. We had a miserable summer last year and had a really good Playoff run. I’m excited to get going. But yeah, I think you need to operate 100 percent each and every week.”
ARE THERE ANY PLACES THAT YOU TAKE YOUR TEAM THAT’S A HOTSPOT THAT YOU HAVE TO GO EAT OR VISIT WHEN YOU GO TO ARIZONA?
“Yeah, I used to try to pop around to a couple different places. I’d say my favorite thing out there is just Mexican food, in general. There are a couple places that are decent in Charlotte, but nothing like there was at home. Try to hit a couple spots there.”
“Pat’s Chili Dogs in Tucson is pretty amazing. That was one of my favorite places to go. This year, with kind of the different layouts and everything going on in the world, I’ll probably keep closer to the racetrack and keep a little more locked-up. But definitely some places in the past that we’ve tried to go.”
WHEN YOU DID THE SIMULATION DRIVING FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN? HOW MUCH DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT KEPT YOU SHARP IN PREPARTION FOR JUMPING INTO THE NO. 88 CAR IN 2018?
“I think that was definitely better than sitting on the couch all year. But, at the same time, it wasn’t racing. So, it’s definitely different. It kept me in a racecar a little bit, with the wheel force car. I ran a couple of Xfinity races that year and a Truck race early that year, too. Those couple of races I think helped, but there were definitely areas that I was rusty in 2018 that I needed to relearn or reacclimate to. It’s just never good taking a year off, but I felt like it was necessary to end up here at Hendrick Motorsports and be where I wanted to be.”
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