DALE JR. EXCITED FOR BOWMAN’S RIDE IN THE CLASH AT DAYTONA

Ron Lemasters | 12/10/2016

Alex Bowman Dale Jr. Daytona News

Alex Bowman, who filled the seat in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Earnhardt Jr. in 10 of the final 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, will strap into the 88 during the annual Clash non-points race at Daytona.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Dec. 10, 2016) – Even though he has been cleared to compete at Daytona International Speedway come February, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won’t be racing in The Clash, the annual showdown for pole winners that kicks off Speedweeks every year.

And he’s just fine with that.

Alex Bowman, who raced nine times for JR Motorsports in 2016 in addition to filling the seat in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Earnhardt Jr. in 10 of the final 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, will have that honor, and Earnhardt Jr. was an enthusiastic proponent of it.

“I was at Phoenix standing on pit road on Friday when Alex got the pole and my first reaction and the first words out of my mouth were that Alex gets to run in ‘The Clash’,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday during a Hendrick Motorsports press conference. “If the rumors are true that it’s pole winners Alex is going to be available to run in ‘The Clash’ and I turned to Doug Duchardt (general manager, Hendrick Motorsports) and said he should drive the No. 88, he earned it with the No. 88 guys.”

As big a team guy as he is, it only made sense to the 42-year-old, third-generation driver.

“He has done a great job as a substitute driver,” he said of Bowman. “I really have a great friendship with Alex and I felt like if he was going to be in the race he deserved to be in that car.  My eligibility comes from winning the race in 2008 and I can’t remember the last time I won a pole.  For whatever reason that was just my initial gut reaction and it feel important to me that is owed to Alex.  He deserves it.

“It is a bit of a tip of the cap to not only his pole win and how well he did at Phoenix, but how he stepped in and did a great job every week for our guys.  That is not an easy job to do.  He helped maintain and improve the health and performance of the team in a critical time, so we can go into Daytona this year confident that we are going to be competitive and we are not behind the eight-ball or have any catching up to do.  I’m excited for Alex to get that opportunity and I’m happy that it’s with Greg (Ives, crew chief) and the guys that he has worked with over the last several races.”

For the past several seasons, when it transitioned from The Clash to The Shootout to The Sprint Unlimited, Earnhardt Jr. admitted the traditional race for pole winners had lost a bit of luster.

“I had heard, I guess around Phoenix, we didn’t really know what the rules were going to be as far as getting into ‘The Clash’,” he said. “But I had heard some rumors that it was going to go back to pole winners, which is something I was super excited about because it brings back an identity to the race and makes it a bit of an exclusive club and it turns it into something you want to be in and strive to be in, which has been missing from the event for a long time.”

Bowman, still looking for a full-time opportunity in the sport, will make the most of the chance to shine under the lights at Daytona.