MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 9, 2019
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1 met with media and discussed winning the Daytona 500 pole and the importance of that, the 2018 season, the hard work at Hendrick Motorsports, and more. Full Transcript:
AS LAST YEAR’S POLE WINNER, WHAT’S THE IMPORTANCE OF THE POLE HERE AT DAYTONA?
“That’s a tough question. It means a lot to all the hard-working people that we have at Hendrick Motorsports. It means a lot to the whole shop and the engine department and the fab shop and all the guys. I feel like Qualifying here is all about them. A driver could mess it up, but you can’t really do much to make your car go faster, so that’s all for them. That was really cool to be a part of it and to have my name attached to it, but I don’t know that I necessarily did much to influence it. So, that was really neat. I think we had a really fast car all week. I kind of got some crap for not racing hard in the Duels, but we went to the 500 and ran up front for most of the day and just kind of had a bad last restart and got crashed there at the end. It was a good week for us and hopefully we have just as fast of a race car and we can go from there.”
HOW DIFFERENT ARE YOU AS A PERSON AND A DRIVER THAN THE GUY WHO SAT UP THERE (MEDIA CENTER) A YEAR AGO AFTER WINNING THE POLE?
“I don’t know that a whole lot has changed. I still drove my own truck and trailer to and from Chili Bowl and still went racing all Winter. I don’t know. I don’t know that much has changed. I feel like I’m working harder than I ever have and doing more to prepare than I ever have. I feel like last year, for me, it kind of exposed my weaknesses and exposed areas that I could improve on and I’ve been trying to do that all Winter and be more prepared for this year. Maybe I’m just working a little harder but other than that, not a whole lot has changed. I just feel like I have some more knowledge and hopefully just working a little harder.”
NOW THAT YOU’VE HAD A YEAR IN THE NO. 88 CAR AND THE EXPECTATIONS THAT GO WITH IT, ARE YOU MORE COMFORTABLE HEADING INTO THIS YEAR?
“Yes and no. I feel like I was really confident heading into last year because things came so easy to me in 2016 when I filled-in for Dale (Earnhardt, Jr.). We were really fast right off the bat and I contended for wins that year and things kind of seemed to come easy. So I kind of approached ’18 about the same. And things obviously didn’t come easy to us. It was a really tough year and frustrating as a whole organization at Hendrick Motorsports. So, I feel like this year, I feel like I’ve improved, myself; or, hope so. I guess we’ll find out when we get on the race track. But I’m working really hard to improve in any areas that I can. And I know that everybody at Hendrick Motorsports is really working hard to improve our race team and improve our race cars. So, that’s really good. But, it just takes time. We’ll see. I think it can be a good year for us and a lot has changed with the rules package and everything. So, it’s just kind of we’ll see when we get to Atlanta.”
DO YOU EXPECT LESS DISTRACTION IN QUESTIONS ABOUT DALE EVEN THOUGH I’M ASKING ONE HERE?
“I don’t think I’ve done an interview yet that the first question wasn’t what it’s like to replace Dale Earnhardt, Jr. So, that’s just part of it. I wouldn’t be here without Dale. It’s an amazing opportunity and I’m very thankful for all his help and support. So, I’m sure the questions will keep coming. That’s just part of it.”
YOU MENTIONED THAT WINNING THE POLE WAS A POINT OF PRIDE FOR THE ENGINE GUYS, AERO GUYS, AND EVERYBODY THAT BUILDS THE CARS. HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS IS GOING FOR FIVE STRAIGHT POLE POSITIONS IN THE DAYTONA 500. IS THERE AN EXPECTATION THAT YOU GUYS WILL BE BACK THERE AGAIN? ARE YOU GOING TO SET OFF AN ALARM IF YOU GUYS AREN’T THERE COME SUNDAY?
“Yeah, I think we come down here to bring fast Camaros and try to sit on the pole. That’s what we’re here to do. That’s what Daytona 500 qualifying is all about. So, I think it would be Chevy’s 700th pole, so that would be cool to be a part of. There are a lot of milestones attached to it. We’re definitely here to do that and hopefully we can make it happen.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT TOMORROW’S RACE IS AS FAR AS GETTING PREPARED FOR THE DRAFT AND WHAT TO EXPECT FOR THE REST OF SPEEDWEEKS?
“Yeah, for sure. The Clash is kind of glimpse for the rest of the week, I feel like. Obviously it’s such a different race because it’s 20 cars versus 40 cars. That’s quite a bit different. But, we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out. I think it’s kind of nice to have some drafting practice this early in the week and be able to think about it for a week instead of not getting any drafting practice until the Duels. So, I’m looking forward to it. I’m happy to be a part of it. I wish we would have had some more poles last year and a couple of wins to get into it that way, but having a Daytona 500 pole to get into it is pretty cool.”
IT WAS OBVIOUSLY A TOUGH YEAR FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS OVERALL. YOU’VE GOT SOME CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE TEAMS AND ALL THAT. IS THERE ANY SHIFT IN ATTITUDE WHEN IT COMES TO THE TEAM THIS YEAR? HAVE YOU REALLY NOTICED SOMETHING DIFFERENT? OR PERHAPS, WILL YOU BE LEARNING THAT THIS WEEK?
“My team, for the most part, stayed the same. So, that’s hard to say. I think once we get into the team meetings and team debriefs and we have all four drivers and four crew chiefs in there, I think that’s when I’ll notice the difference, obviously with just new faces and different people in different roles. It’s hard to answer that right now. I just know everybody is working really hard and Mr. Hendrick is going to kick our butts if we don’t go win some races. So, we’re all maxed-out doing all we can to make that happen.”
DID THAT CORVETTE RACE EVER GO OFF? WHAT HAPPENED THERE?
“We’re still waiting on it. Mr. Hendrick says we can’t run until it gets warmer outside. It was like 70-something degrees the day before we left. But, he needs it warmer. I guess his car doesn’t like it when it’s cold or something; I don’t know. But, that’s eventually got to happen. I know he has hired some people to purposely make his car faster than mine. And, I’ve got a couple of tricks up my sleeve, too. So, we’re both pretty invested in this race for it not to happen and for us to just be talking about it for the two years. So it has to happen at this point, at some point.”
INAUDIBLE
“I mean it’s got to happen at some point in the next couple of months, hopefully. He’s a busy guy and this NASCAR-thing keeps me a little busy sometimes. So, maybe Monday or Tuesday on an easy we’ll get the race in. We’ll see.”
INAUDIBLE
“If I call him ‘scared’ right now, it’s going to end really badly for me (laughs). I’m going to show-up and he’s going to have like a 6-second drag car, or 7-second drag car. So no, I do not think Mr. Hendrick is scared of drag racing my street car. But, I think he’s just making sure he embarrasses me and doesn’t just beat me by a little bit. He’s got to beat me by a lot. So, I know there is a bunch of work going on for both cars. So, It’ll be interesting, for sure.”
YOU SPOKE ABOUT MR. HENDRICK’S PATIENCE LEVEL FOR THINGS TO KIND OF GET BACK. COULD YOU TALK ABOUT THAT? DID HE SIT YOU GUYS ALL DOWN? DID YOU HAVE A BIG MEETING? WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION FACTOR AS A WHOLE FOR THE ORGANIZATION GET BACK TO WHERE YOU USED TO BE?
“I think it’s just last year isn’t what we expect. It isn’t what Hendrick Motorsports is. So, I think we all know we need to go win races and contend for a championship. Performances like last year aren’t where we need to be. I think Mr. Hendrick just wants to win races. He wants to come to the race track and be in Victory Lane. That’s why he does it is to win. He doesn’t do it to walk up and down pit road and not have any fun. He does it to go win. So, we all just want to get him back there. Chase (Elliott) was able to do it towards the end of last year a couple of times. I think seeing Chase do that just makes the rest of us want it more, probably. It did for me. So, we’re all just working as hard as we can to get Mr. Hendrick back in Victory Lane.”
IN THE PAST, IF THERE WAS A POST-RACE PENALTY, THE TEAM WAS STILL ABLE TO KEEP THE WIN. YOU MIGHT HEAR THE DRIVER SAY HEY LOOK, I JUST DRIVE THE CAR AND LET THE CREW CHIEF AND TEAM DO WHATEVER. BUT NOW WITH THIS NEW POLICY OF EVERYTHING GETTING WIPED-OUT SO WORST-CASE SCENARIO IS IF YOU WERE TO WIN YOU COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE YOUR FIRST WIN NULLIFIED AND TAKEN OFF THE BOOKS. ARE YOU MORE INVESTED AS A DRIVER IN WHAT YOUR TEAM DOES AND MAKING SURE THAT THINGS ARE OKAY, OR IS THAT STILL AT A LEVEL WHERE THAT SHOULDN’T BE YOUR FOCUS BECAUSE YOU HAVE SO MANY OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT?
“Yeah, I’m more focused on just getting that first win before I worry about if it’s going to go through tech, or not. As a driver, you can’t be worried about that all the time. I feel like I’m one of the more mechanically knowledgeable drivers in the garage. I’ve built and raced my own race cars all Winter. Literally, we build our own chassis and everything and I still don’t understand half the stuff on these Cup cars. It literally takes a team of engineers and laptops and all kinds of stuff to run them. So, there’s not a driver that’s going to know everything that’s going on in the race car. It’s just not going to happen. So, I’m just worried about driving it. I’ve got a lot of faith in (crew chief) Greg (Ives) and all the guys and we’ve got to go win those races first. We haven’t been close to that yet. I’m just more focused on winning the race first and what ever comes after, happens.”
YOUR NICKNAME IS CATCHY, BUT I HEARD YOU DON’T LIKE IT. IS THAT TRUE?
“Yeah, you’re coming with all the old questions today (laughs). I think it’s just stuck at this point and I’m not getting rid of it. I was not a huge fan of it at first. But I feel like if you make your own nickname, that’s like wearing your own t-shirt. You can’t do that. So, unfortunately I am stuck with what I’ve got and I’ve just kind of got to own it.”
WHO ARE YOUR MENTORS? YOU MENTIONED DALE. HOW MUCH HAS JIMMIE (JOHNSON) HELPED YOU?
“Yeah, Jimmie does a great job as a leader at Hendrick Motorsports. He’s won a couple of races and a few championships here and there. So, just being able to lean on him has been really incredible. As well as Chase (Elliott) and William (Byron); I feel like each one of us kind of brings something different to the table and brings a different perspective. We all have vastly different backgrounds and we can all lean on each other to help each other. Oh, and we have this guy named Jeff Gordon that works at Hendrick Motorsports as well, and he’s won a couple of races. So, I feel like we have a huge depth of knowledge to kind of fall back on and to learn from. So, when those guys are around I just try to be a sponge and learn what I can.”