NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer says that he’s turned around a slow start to 2011 and is now ready to win.
The Richard Childress Racing driver started slowly and bottomed out after the race in Bristol, finishing 35th and dropping to 24th in the drivers’ standings.
In the next four races, he finished no worse than ninth; the last two races both runner-up results.
Now he has to step it up a little bit more.
“My teammate (Kevin Harvick) won two races back-to-back. We finished second. But we've got to - we've got to win races. I've been saying that all the time, and it's time for myself and our race team to prove ourselves this year, and hopefully we can win some more races,” said Bowyer on a teleconference.
The 30-year old from Emporia, Kansas is a fierce competitor on the track, but, has an aw-shucks appearance in person. Although usually optimistic that early slow start was on his mind.
“A month ago I was worried, very much so. But at the end of the day the reality was it's still way early in the season, still is even today. But with the new points system and everything that's happening around that, you really don't know where you're at. You think you do, but things will shake out. I think the cream is going to rise to the top, no different than it ever has. It's still early in the season, but it feels good to be able to get on a little bit of a roll here, and hopefully we can continue to ride that wave,” added Bowyer.
Aside from focusing on this Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway Bowyer’s has another type of track in his sights.
As he explained “I've never won on a mile and a half racetrack, and that's - that's number one for me. I want to win on an intermediate track. We've got Kansas, my home track, coming up. That's one that I've gotten close at a couple times. We've got a good package for those intermediate tracks. We've worked hard on it.”
And, looking at the championship which is still far away, his sights, as well as his organization’s are to dethroning five-time and defending champion Jimmie Johnson.
“I think everybody has kind of narrowed the gap there and closed in on them, but nobody has really stepped up to the plate yet. Hopefully we can; somebody at our race team and organization at RCR.”
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| Getty Images for NASCAR |
The Richard Childress Racing driver started slowly and bottomed out after the race in Bristol, finishing 35th and dropping to 24th in the drivers’ standings.
In the next four races, he finished no worse than ninth; the last two races both runner-up results.
Now he has to step it up a little bit more.
“My teammate (Kevin Harvick) won two races back-to-back. We finished second. But we've got to - we've got to win races. I've been saying that all the time, and it's time for myself and our race team to prove ourselves this year, and hopefully we can win some more races,” said Bowyer on a teleconference.
The 30-year old from Emporia, Kansas is a fierce competitor on the track, but, has an aw-shucks appearance in person. Although usually optimistic that early slow start was on his mind.
“A month ago I was worried, very much so. But at the end of the day the reality was it's still way early in the season, still is even today. But with the new points system and everything that's happening around that, you really don't know where you're at. You think you do, but things will shake out. I think the cream is going to rise to the top, no different than it ever has. It's still early in the season, but it feels good to be able to get on a little bit of a roll here, and hopefully we can continue to ride that wave,” added Bowyer.
Aside from focusing on this Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway Bowyer’s has another type of track in his sights.
As he explained “I've never won on a mile and a half racetrack, and that's - that's number one for me. I want to win on an intermediate track. We've got Kansas, my home track, coming up. That's one that I've gotten close at a couple times. We've got a good package for those intermediate tracks. We've worked hard on it.”
And, looking at the championship which is still far away, his sights, as well as his organization’s are to dethroning five-time and defending champion Jimmie Johnson.
“I think everybody has kind of narrowed the gap there and closed in on them, but nobody has really stepped up to the plate yet. Hopefully we can; somebody at our race team and organization at RCR.”
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| Getty Images for NASCAR |