Brutally honest, Bowyer busting at seams for win

"Hell Yeah!"

Those were the two most important words I heard during a 10-minute conversation with Clint Bowyer two days after his rock solid performance in the Pepsi 400. I knew at that moment his head was in the right place.

Beau Estes co-hosts the Jack Daniel's Post-Race Show with Nikki Alexander. It can be seen following every Nextel Cup race live on NASCAR.COM.

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The driver of the No. 07 Chevy had just finished telling me how his team "gained confidence" and was "a strong contender again." He even mentioned that the weekend in Daytona was once again "a good team effort." Wake me if you've heard this type of talk before.

I don't doubt that all of what he said is absolutely true, but something in Clint's voice sounded a bit off. To be fair, Bowyer is a relative wiz with the media in just his second year in the Nextel Cup game, but this time the words sounded tired -- like he was reading them from a script he didn't particularly enjoy. Frankly, the guy was just plain frustrated and so I asked him to level with me.

"Honestly, aren't you tired of giving the same 'good team effort' speech over and over again? Aren't you sick of it?" I said.

Cue the real Clint Bowyer.

"Hell yeah, I'm definitely sick of it," he laughed "I'm paid to win races. I know it takes time but I want to win one."

The brutal truth continued to flow majestically.

"Forget getting paid for it," he added. "Selfishly I want to win one for me."

Those last eight words could have been uttered by any great athlete pursuing their dream. They are at the heart of all sports. Moreover, aren't all great athletes supposed to be a bit selfish? (Please feel free to flood my inbox with exceptions.)

I know that NASCAR drivers are perhaps the most media savvy athletes in America these days, but what a pleasure it is to hear an outburst of honesty from one of the sport's elite. To me, these are the moments that develop a driver's personality and give fans on the fence something to latch onto. The truth is, Clint is burning up to turn down Victory Lane.

The race in Daytona over the weekend wasn't the breakthrough performance he was looking for, but after a late caution he thought the Pepsi 400 was his for the taking ... that is until he peeked back to see who was trailing him. "I looked in the rearview and there were four HMS and three Roush cars," he said. "Whatever I did they were going to do the opposite so I knew the cards were stacked up against us."

Perhaps the cards weren't the only thing stacked against Clint and Company. Consider this little numeric mind bender the 07 driver relayed to me.

• The race took place on 07/07/07 (I actually knew that)
• The 07 car was in pit stall No. 7
• Their ignition problems occurred with 77 laps to go
• The final caution ended with seven laps to go

So in the end it's probably no surprise that the 07 finished in seventh -- just don't expect the driver to be in seventh heaven. (Continued)