Clint Bowyer is 15th in the current Nextel Cup Series driver standings. Credit: Autostock

10 Questions: Bowyer

Clint Bowyer is a young man who's fixated on excelling at the highest levels of NASCAR racing and as such, his habits and activities center around motorsports.

But Bowyer, a Kansas native who drives Richard Childress Racing's No. 07 Chevrolet, is diverse enough to have some interesting ideas on life and what he wants to get out of it.

But before Bowyer headed to venerable Darlington Raceway, the site of Saturday night's Dodge Charger 500, he took a break at Richmond International Raceway to answer 10 questions not necessarily connected to his racing career.

	Clint Bowyer 2006 Nextel Cup stats Track St. Fin. Laps Status Daytona 37 6 203 running Fontana 32 14 251 running Las Vegas 20 15 270 running Atlanta 16 27 324 running Bristol 27 29 495 running Martinsville 42 22 496 running Texas 12 19 333 running Phoenix 8 5 312 running Talladega 15 40 16 crash Richmond 20 10 400 running

1. What is your favorite outdoor activity?

Bowyer: Probably racing. It would have to be racing, no matter what it is, because racing's something! And it would probably be dirt racing.

It would have to be on dirt, that's for sure. And my favorite dirt track, without question, is Lakeside Speedway, back home in Kansas.

I am absolutely going to be racing in the big Modified/Late Model event they have there in conjunction with the Nextel Cup and Busch races at Kansas Speedway. I'll have the old dirt Modified slinging mud, man, for sure.

2. Which athlete, outside of racing, do you most admire?

Bowyer: Probably Ricky Carmichael, the AMA supercross rider from Florida. He's been a good friend of mine and I've seen him come from nothing and have seen everything his family's sacrificed to get to where they are.

His success has been a family effort, everywhere from probably living in a 26-foot motorhome for two or three years to where he's at today and the success he's had.

So just to see how far he's come, it would definitely be him.

I know there's been some talk about Ricky coming NASCAR racing, but it would be tough. Obviously, if he could get a good ride and he could get in the right equipment he might be able to do it.

But it would probably be just like one of us going over there and thinking we're going to whup up on them in the motocross ranks. It's not likely to happen.

But if he has the right equipment, and he can get the right equipment, you never know. The sky's the limit.

3. What is the most embarrassing moment you'll own up to, either in or out of racing?

Bowyer: In racing it would have to be back home at Lakeside, when I sat on the pole, went into Turn 1 and spun out in front of the whole field and crashed about half the field.

It was a pretty embarrassing moment. It wasn't too long ago and that's why it was embarrassing, because it was when we were rolling pretty good in the Modified.

4. What are your favorite recent movie, and your favorite all-time flick?

Bowyer: Man, I don't know any recent movies, but my favorite all-time would be Tommy Boy. You laugh all the way through that, for sure, so it would have to be Tommy Boy.

I've probably seen it a hundred times and it's still funny.

5. If it was possible, who would you trade places with for a day, and why?

Bowyer: If it was for a day, it would probably be fun to trade places with the President, just to have that power and just to see the things that he sees and to be in control of everything that he does.

That would be pretty cool. I hope my biggest accomplishment, if I could be President, would be to end the war [in Iraq] -- and I don't know what else would be bigger than that.

6. Do you have an iPod, and if you do, what's on it?

Bowyer: I do. It's got anything from Johnny Cash to Limp Bizkit to Nelly. It's all over the place.

Man, I don't know how many songs are on there. I don't ever have the time -- or I don't take the time to download music. I send it to my brother and he's hooked me up.

I think it's got, like 300 or 400 songs on it, so he's hooked me up pretty good.

7. What was your first car?

Bowyer: My first car was an AMC Concorde. It was my brother's car -- a hand-me-down car. We used to jump the railroad tracks with it all the time.

It had air shocks in it and it would air 'em out pretty good -- when he had it. The very first time my father gave it to me, it was my 14th birthday, I had gotten my learner's permit and it was my car.

CLINT BOWYER •   2006 Driver Page •   Store: Bowyer gear! JACK DANIEL'S ... • Post-Race Show

I had to ride with my brother. And what did he want me to do? He wanted me to jump the railroad tracks. I'll never forget it.

We went and jumped the railroad tracks and knocked the oil pan out from underneath it and had to take it back home on the hook. The old man wasn't too happy.

8. PlayStation or X-box?

Bowyer: Definitely PlayStation. It has to be PlayStation. As a matter of fact, I've got this new boxing game, Fight Night: Round 3 and it's whupping up on me.

I'm trying to figure it out and they've been beating me pretty badly. I'm having a lot of fun on that. It's a good way to kill some time.

9. Which star would you like to hang out with, and why?

Bowyer: Probably George Clooney. He seems like he has the most fun out of any of those guys. He's still got it figured out and he has a lot of fun.

My favorite Clooney movie would be Oceans 12, the new one. That's a good one and Oceans 11 was pretty good, too. Actually, the first one I liked better than the second one.

10. If you could go back in time, what period in history would you like to live in?

Bowyer: Oh no. I think definitely, I like living right now. This is definitely the best time to live. Everything has been going pretty good, other than the war over there.

It's a pretty good time to live, and I wouldn't change that part of it.