CLINT BOWYER QUOTES:

After starting the season on the big tracks, are you looking forward to getting back to some short track racing? “I’m definitely looking forward to it. Bristol is a really neat track. It’s an unbelievable facility. It’s a bullring. We have to come out of there with a good finish. You have to race hard. Emotions are high and things happen out there. There’s just no room to get out of the way if there’s trouble in front of you. You can control your destiny a little bit. You can stick your nose where it doesn’t belong pretty easily out there. We’ll just try and keep our nose clean and come out of there with a good finish.”

Have you ever stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong at Bristol and gotten yourself in trouble? “I’ve only been there twice but I’ve done a 360 down the back straightaway. There was trouble in front of me and I checked up and got run into from behind. That’s something you have to be of careful of too. You can’t check up too much because the guy behind you will be up your rear-end before you know it. It’s a fun race track though. Don’t get me wrong. Every NASCAR fan needs to go to Bristol. That’s the track to watch a race from the grandstands. Bristol always puts on a good show. I learned a lot there last year and I’m looking forward to going back in the Jack Daniel’s Chevy.”

How hard do you have to focus on keeping your temper in check at Bristol? “You’re trying so hard to pass someone and there’s so little room to get it done, it’s easy to get upset pretty quick and dump a guy. The shoe can be on the other foot too. You can be holding someone up who’s faster than you are and all of a sudden you’re the one who gets dumped and then you’re really mad. You’re just trying so hard and it’s really close quarters racing, that stuff just happens. There’s really no way around it but I wouldn’t trade it for any place. I like Bristol. It’s a fun race track.”

Even though you’ve only been to Bristol a couple of time, do you remember a particular instance when you were really frustrated? “The bottom is the place to be. There can be a car two, three or four-tenths of a second slower than you on the bottom and if that guy is doing it right, you can’t get around him. Unfortunately, it’s that nature of the beast that sometimes you have to put the bumper to him and get him out of the way. You have to keep your emotions in check and stay calm. Usually the guy who gets all wound up is the same guy who ends up parked in the infield before the race is over with about half of a car left. “

What was your first impression of Bristol? “It reminded me of the coliseum on the movie Gladiator. I don’t have much of an attention span but even I could go to Bristol and watch a race from the grandstands. I’ll never forget my first time on the track. Everyone always told me the first time you go out there and run some laps you won’t breath but I didn’t think too much of it. Well I went out there and ran about 10 laps and sure enough, I pulled back into the pits and I was worn out. I didn’t breath for 10 laps. I could barely put one arm in front of the other.”

What’s the key to being fast at Bristol? “It’s a rhythm track. My teammate Kevin Harvick is really good at Bristol so I’ve learned a lot from him. You have to hit you marks every corner. If you get out of rhythm a little bit it usually takes you about a lap or two to get back into your groove. When you catch a car, you have to catch him and go. If you get held up behind someone you lose your drive and lose your run. You have to time it where you catch someone off the corner and go by.”