Bowyer's Successful Season

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By Chris Walker (Contact)

Friday, November 16, 2007

Photo by Carly Pearson

Clint Bowyer climbs into his car before the start of the Nextel Cup Lifelock 400 on Sept. 30 at the Kansas Speedway.

By Chris Walker

walker@emporiagazette.com

Sunday is NASCAR’s last race of the 2007 season and that will complete Clint Bowyer’s second year running full-time in the Nextel Cup Series. Clint is currently third in points with one win and 17 top 10 finishes. His races earned $4,802,890 for RCR this year.

Q You had a great year this year. How much was luck and how much was improving as a driver and a race team?

A I am a firm believer in making a lot of your own luck and we have definitely had a couple of things swing our way. But it’s been a good year and we have all learned a lot. We picked our program up and it continued to get better. So that is the biggest thing I am excited about.

Q You are third in points and competing against Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon for the championship. Johnson and Gordon have raced for so many years, is it possible to beat them and win a championship?

Emporia’s Clint Bowyer is still in the chase for the championship as he prepares for the last race of the season, which will be Sunday in Florida.

A I think it is possible. But I think we definitely need to get our equipment better to be able to compete for a championship again. For the top teams, their drivers and crews are awesome. Their equipment is really good and they are superior right now. We just need to go back and do our homework and find what we are missing. Everyone is obviously missing it. Those two cars are just beating everyone hands down, week in and week out.

Q Has the car of tomorrow equalized the competition this year?

A I think the car of tomorrow was the equalizer unless you didn’t get it figured out. But it seems like with the car of tomorrow there is one dominant car and everyone else runs at the same speed after four or five laps. You either hit the set-up that weekend or you don’t. We just have to do our homework and get better for next year.

Q Is Richard Childress making that commitment to improve the equipment?

A Definitely. We have every engineer, every possible outlet and resource working on it. It’s not one big thing we are missing but it is just some little things. It is the little things that take us from a top 10 car to a dominant car.

Q You have had a break-out year this year. Has that changed how other drivers have treated you?

A Making the chase was a big thing because it is so hard to do. There was a lot of pressure on the line and a lot of good teams we beat out to get in. I think we earned a lot of respect making the chase and then winning our first race. When you roll into victory lane and the biggest names of the sport walk up and congratulate you, it definitely says respect. I am proud of that because that is what it is all about — having the respect of your peers.

Q You accomplished your goals this year. Does the pressure go away since next year is right around the corner?

A We keep raising our bar and now our expectations from here are to go out and win a championship. We obviously want to win more races. This year we want to win third place in the championship, and that is better than anyone has done at RCR since Dale Earnhardt. We are really proud of our race team. It was a good year but now we need to set our sights higher for next year.

Q Is the morale still good among the drivers at RCR?

A It is, but I think everyone is ready for the season to be done. It is just such a long season.

Q Last year after the season you took your race team and their families on a vacation to the Bahamas. Did they earn another vacation this year?

A They definitely earned something. I think I will try to take them to Colorado. When we went to the Bahamas last year, a lot of those guys had never been on a trip since they started working RCR because it is that demanding. I think it means a lot to them and their families to take a vacation.

Q A lot of open-wheel drivers are flocking to NASCAR. What are your thoughts on that?

A It’s definitely strange to look over and see a lot of foreign names in our sport. It has been such an American-driven sport for so long. My only concern is for drivers like myself who have raced their butts off and for their families who have given it their all trying to get their son or daughter to this level. I just hope they still have that opportunity. The only thing I am not OK with is some of the guys come over with the attitude that if we make it, fine, and if we don’t, that’s fine also. They have already made their millions in F-1 and they don’t need the money. They know if they don’t make that they can just go back to the racing they did before. I just hope it doesn’t take racing opportunities from young drivers.

Q What are you going to do in the off season?

A Doing whatever I want! This has been a long, long year. It seems like two of last year.

Q Any big changes in your racing schedule next year?

A I am planning to run Busch full time next year. I want to win that championship. If we can’t do it next year then I won’t try it again.

Q This year you logged some time on ESPN as TV commentator. You looked pretty natural. Is that something you enjoy doing?

A It’s something that’s fun. Talking about racing, something you love, is easy to talk about. If I had to go up and talk about golf, that would be a struggle. It’s fun, but for right now I had better not give up my day job.