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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: BUDWEISER DUEL #1February 20, 2014Alex BowmanCole WhittDAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA KERRY THARP: Racing his way into his first Daytona 500, that is Cole Whitt. Heck of a race out there tonight for Cole. Obviously involved in a mishap yesterday. Had to get that racecar turned around. You had to race your way in. Talk about pressure, you delivered. Tell us how you did it. COLE WHITT: Yeah, you know, I'm just proud of my guys more than anything. We weren't ready to give up. We knew coming down here, it was already hard for us to even get down here, let alone the things that happened to our team yesterday, not just our car, from Swan Energy losing two cars. My guys pulled together and made it happen. My hat is off to them, Speed Stick GEAR coming onboard, giving us a shot with a sponsor down here. Everything so far has just been pretty amazing. To be in the Daytona 500 is something I've dreamed of my whole life. Kind of a hard way to do it. But being out and back in with just a lap or so to go is pretty gnarly. Just thanks to everybody. KERRY THARP: Joining Cole is Alex Bowman. Both of these young men are Sunoco Rookies of the Year candidates in the Sprint Cup Series. It's a testament to how strong this rookie class is this year. Alex, talk about your emotions. You race your way into the biggest race of the season as a rookie. Tell us what that means to you. ALEX BOWMAN: I mean, it's huge. I mean, I got the call to come drive a Cup car. I was really excited about that. To make the Daytona 500, it's huge. It's something I've watched as a kid every year. It just means a lot to me and my family. It was pretty crazy. We were running 7th there for a while. I was like, Please, don't shuffle up. Started shuffling. Crossed the white flag probably 18th or 19th. Fortunate enough to get the right runs at the end and pass the exact number of cars. Thankful to everybody at BK Racing, Toyota and Dr.Pepper for giving me a chance to be here. KERRY THARP: Questions. Q. Cole, you went from 17th to 12th on that last lap. Alex, you mentioned you went to 15th. Did you two work together? You both really made a strong move down the backstretch coming through three and four. COLE WHITT: Yeah, no, I think we were nose to tail for quite a bit there towards the end. I tried to shuffle Alex out ‑ no offense ‑ it's the nature of the beast. We were coming down to the end, wanted to get ourselves in. I didn't want to be the last car in line. I was there for a second. I kind of side‑drafted him, put him last in line. Then made a move later, shuffled myself out. Maybe a little karma to myself. Alex is a good friend of mine. We've come up through the Sprint car ranks together. Everything focused at the end. I was trying to get in. I don't know where Alex was behind me coming to the last lap. I tried to pick the best line I could. I knew guys pulling down to the bottom, it would take a while for them to pull up that speed they needed when they were pulling from the top groove, trying to suck up. People were losing guys behind them. I gave the 14 a pretty big shove on the last lap to make sure our run was going to be as strong as possible to the line. Tried to stay hammer down. I didn't even know if we were in by the time we crossed the finish line. It was a nail‑biter for sure. Q. Cole, back to yesterday, one backup car for two wrecked cars. Did you think they'd get that car rebuilt? COLE WHITT: Yeah, you know, these guys worked their tails off. That's a testament to the guys we have hired here at Swan Racing. Stepping up to two cars is tough for them. We took on a lot with building new cars, moving shops, trying to find sponsors. There's so much that our team has done in the off‑season. We're going to go through our growing pains. Part of that is what we've had to deal with down here in Daytona. We did not make it easier yesterday getting into the right front wall and Parker getting caught up in another mess. Neither driver at fault, just the circumstances of racing down here at Daytona. For our guys to pull together and fix our car up, get them ready also, to work together in the Duel at certain times was pretty impressive. Says a lot about our company and where we're headed. Q. Other than being told, You're clear, you're not clear, in those final couple of laps, were you getting any input or information as far as what you needed to be doing? ALEX BOWMAN: Your spotter is huge. He can tell you what lane has what cars, what lane is moving. The biggest piece of information our spotter gave me those last couple laps was going down the back straightaway, he said, We need a bunch more than where we're at (smiling). That was a kick in the butt to get going a little bit, I guess. Yeah, spotters are huge here. They can make or break your race. You have mirrors and everything. But really just knowing how the lines are flowing really helps you a lot. COLE WHITT: Yeah, I mean, like Alex is saying, picking your line, a lot of it's driving out the windshield, but also not letting the guys side draft you too much. I think when I was kind of mixed up there in the beginning up at the top eight or so, our car was really good right there. I was really comfortable right there. Didn't want to make any moves, just wanted to ride in line. We did that all the way through the pit stop. Then we had to start working from there once we got shuffled out with the pit strategy and stuff. Like he said, your spotter is a big part of it. They have to be on their game. When Alex pulled underneath me, my spotter is like, Get down, get down, get down. I'm sitting here looking in front of me, and I'm like, Why? I looked in my mirror at the same time and I see Alex making a run. I tried to come down and I knew I was reacting too late to this one. I kind of pulled back up and let Alex go a little bit, but at the same time he had that run. I was too late to it. You have to be on your game, huge testament, but you also choose your fate by the lines you choose. It's pretty crazy, but you're picking a top, bottom or middle groove and just going with them. Obviously moving in and out makes better drivers not want to work with you as much as you're all over the place. I try to stay as smooth as possible and gain respect with them. Q. You were shuffled towards the back, then four guys with four fresh tires go by you. Were you getting pumped up on the radio at that time? Were they telling you where they were? Was it hard to keep composure? ALEX BOWMAN: I feel like for us, I mean, we were running 7th there for a while, didn't want to get out of line, didn't want to move. When those guys started coming, we got shuffled towards the back. It was one of those things where I wanted to get in front of it. The way the lines worked, I wasn't able to. I figured that if I stuck to the 14's rear bumper, we'd be in pretty good shape. I got behind him, still kept getting shuffled back. It's kind of tough. Even though those guys are good, had four fresh tires, the air is the air. Once they get there, it's as hard for them to do anything as it is for us to do anything. COLE WHITT: Like Alex said, once they got there, they had a big run when they came, that gave them the shove where it got them up into about midway through that line. Once people seen them coming, got them shuffled up, it stalled some of them out. The 14 finished right in front of me. It's the car I pushed almost the whole last lap. I knew if I stayed to his bumper, we would keep moving forward. The guys pulling down is the reason we got to move up. He was committed to staying to the top. I tried to give him his biggest push as I could and hoping he would go as far forward as possible. KERRY THARP: Alex and Cole, congratulations on racing your way into Sunday's 56th running of the Daytona 500. I wish you a lot of luck. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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