Bowyer off to fast start in 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Emporia native Clint Bowyer is off to a fast start in 2010 with a fourth-place finish at the Daytona 500 and two other top 10 finishes that have him in second place in the NASCAR Spint Cup points’ standings.
Bowyer was in Emporia on Monday for the Gillette Young Guns promotion, and he took some time to talk to The Gazette about his fast start this year and his inconsistencies from last race season.
Q What’s been the key to your fast start?
A Just hard work. Everybody was tired of getting beat. We were behind last year and worked really hard changing a lot of people around and putting all the pieces together. We had all the pieces to the puzzle, we just had to get them put together right — get a competition director to support these crew chiefs.
We were able to take four race teams and compile them down to three, and take the best of the best, and that’s exactly what we did. Unfortunately, we had to do away with some positions at RCR, losing a fourth team, but selfishly being one of the three teams, it’s made us stronger as a group. It’s good to see all three cars running good. You don’t want to just have one car running well; there’s a reason you have a multi-car team and everybody’s working together and reaping the benefits on Sunday.
Q How important was it after last season to get off to a fast start?
A Very important. It’s a huge year for us — the year’s not down, we’re only three races into this thing — but this is a big year. We’ve got to prove we can get ourselves back in the Chase, prove that last year was a fluke and we can fix it. We owe it to our fans, we owe it to our sponsors to run up front and that’s what they pay us to do. So far, so good.
Q The goal coming in had to be just to make the Chase, but as well as you’ve started, has that changed at all?
A Consistency is still the name of the game, and that’s what we lacked last year. We did run well, but we weren’t consistent either. If you look at our last season compared to the seasons that put me in the Chase, the top 10s were pretty much there, but it was the 25th or worse finishes that really put a damper in our program. We got the same group of guys together. Our pit crew and over-the-wall crew is the best on pit road, and I look for this year to be good. I think we can win multiple races and compete for a championship.
Q With teammate Kevin Harvick leading in points and you in second, do you feel like 2010 is the year of Richard Childress Racing?
A It has to be. Whether it is or not, it has to be. The full-court press is on. We’ve got to make things happen, and I think so far we’ve done that.
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
Best of Luck, Clint - Thanks for all the good things you do for Emporia & your sport.
March 2, 2010 at 6:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )