Clint Bowyer just wanted to race on the dirt

Clint Bowyer talks dirt racing, NASCAR and iRacing

Clint Bowyer just wanted to race dirt.

He now runs full time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for Stewart-Haas Racing. At the same time, he has two full dirt late model teams that tour the country on a weekly basis.

How did it all start?

Dirt Racing

Clint Bowyer describes, “When I was 16 years old I was working in a Goodyear Tire store. My boss actually built an old dirt car. A street stock Monte Carlo.”

It was a hell of a race, hell of a party and a big fight afterwards. I was like, this is it.

-Clint Bowyer

“I went with him one night, I fell in love with it. It was a hell of a race, hell of a party and a big fight afterwards. I was like, this is it. This is it for me.”

Clint Bowyer Talks Dirt Racing — Clint Bowyer

He continued, “It wasn’t long after that I was driving an old 78 Camaro out of the weeds, at that guys farm. We pulled that thing out, made a racecar out of it and away we went.”

“I think a driver has more to do with the equation, going back and racing dirt. You can do more with the racecar. You know, the harder you drive it, a lot of times, the better it goes. You can crawl up on that wheel and feel like you made the difference at the end of the night.”

iRacing Dirt Late Model 9382 — Darrell Lanigan pilots the Clint Bowyer Racing #14 at Brown County Speedway

NASCAR

Clint Bowyer talks the NASCAR side of his career, “Asphalt car… You can’t overdrive ’em. That was the first thing that I had to learn, right off the bat. Oh my gosh, I gotta discipline myself to not over drive this thing. And that’s how you get the most out of it.”

“Truth be told, communicating the right information to your crew and your crew chief… So, they can do their job and make their appropriate adjustments. For you, to go faster and do you job is probably 90% of the game, in our world.”

Clint Bowyer began his Cup Series career in 2005. Since then he’s racked up 421 starts in the series. Along the way, he’s collected 8 wins and 177 top ten’s.

Currently, the #14 Ford sits 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.

Clint Bowyer compares NASCAR to dirt racing — Clint Bowyer in his Mobil 1 NASCAR racecar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Clint Bowyer Racing

Bowyer talks about his dirt racing team, “I’ve always loved late models. My dream was to be a late model driver. Drivin’ for a living, across the country, like Darrell [Lanigan] and Don [O’Neal] do that drive for me. Truth be told, that was my dream.”

“I always wanted a semi. I always wanted a stacker trailer with two hot rods in it and let’s go racing. Let’s take off with your buddies and go racing.”

“Never in a million years, did I think it would turn into a Cup Series. And I actually have an opportunity to own two dirt late model teams.”

Don O’Neal and Darrell Lanigan pilot Clint Bowyer Racing machines. Each of them tour on a weekly basis with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. O’Neal sits 4th and Lanigan sits 7th in the championship standings.

Clint Bowyer Racing - Dirt Late Models 5487 — Clint Bowyer Racing

iRacing

iRacing is a huge part of Clint Bowyer Racing. They are the primary sponsor of the #14 car driven by Darrell Lanigan. Additionally, they are an associate sponsor on the #5, driven by Don O’Neal.

Clint Bowyer talks iRacing, “When you think of iRacing, you don’t think of a video game. It’s way above and beyond any of that. Dirt racing changes so much, the track changes so much. Being able to capture that and experience all those details that surround and make dirt racing what it is. Is what makes iRacing so cool.”

Clint Bowyer was one of the beta testers when iRacing dirt was in development. And every car in the game, is a carbon copy of the Club 29 chassis. Straight out of the Clint Bowyer Racing shop and onto your computer screen.

“I knew when they came to our shop and scanned the cars. And went to the detail of getting that car right. I knew that it was going to be, over the top. It blew my mind, just the work that went into making sure the car itself was legit.”