Q&A: Mears, Newman, Bowyer.

Tuesday, 21st February 2006

They may have come up a little short in NASCAR’s biggest race, but Daytona 500 runner-up Casey Mears, third place finisher Ryan Newman and top rookie Clint Bowyer still had plenty to smile (and talk) about after the race.

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They may have come up a little short in NASCAR’s biggest race, but Daytona 500 runner-up Casey Mears, third place finisher Ryan Newman and top rookie Clint Bowyer still had plenty to smile (and talk) about after the race.

MODERATOR:
Joined by our top finishing rookie, Clint Bowyer, 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet. Tell us about this run.

CLINT BOWYER:
You know, we started out tight. The car started out tight. I think everybody was fighting tight. You know, what a great effort for Jack Daniels Chevrolet, all the guys, the pit stops were awesome, Gil made good calls on the box, getting the car to handle good.

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For whatever reason, it just wouldn't run down on the bottom. If we kept it wound up on the high side, she'd go. Late in the race, Junior got up on the outside. That was the time to go. So I tried to get up there and help him. We just had a lot of momentum up there, passed a lot of cars. It wasn't quite as exciting as that Busch race, but it was a heck of a Daytona 500.

Q.
Clint, did the fog ever become a problem throughout the day? It looked sometimes like it seemed a little slick.

CLINT BOWYER:
Not for me. Being the rookie that I am, I had a dark visor on my helmet. It was starting to get dark with the mist, the fog, the dark. Everything was setting in. It was starting to get a little bit dark out there.

You know, it was just kind of holding on. Didn't really want to see that 'green white chequered' at the end. I think we had some momentum going. I think we could have got maybe a couple more of them. You know, good way to start out the season. We'll go on to California.

MODERATOR:
We're joined by Casey Mears. The results are unofficial right now. We have him as the third place finisher, driver of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge. Casey, tell us about the run.

CASEY MEARS:
It was good. I mean, what a great day for the Texaco/Havoline Dodge. We just started off with a pretty decent run right there out of the gate. Right after the second pit stop, we had a wheel weight that came off the right front. Had a bad vibration. The car got real tight.

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