BUY TICKETS: See the Daytona 500 live!
RELATED: How ‘The Clash’ works
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Alex Bowman made his case for a spot in the season-opening exhibition for 2016 pole winners, claiming his first Coors Light Pole at his home track at Phoenix as part of his substitute stint in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s place.
But even though he’d earned eligibility, so had Earnhardt as a former winner. With only 10 starts as an interim driver in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet, Bowman didn’t exactly feel like he could pipe up and volunteer.
"I just kind of let it go quiet," Bowman said Friday at Daytona International Speedway. "I didn’t want step on any toes, or ask anybody and have it seem like I was begging for something. I wasn’t really asking."
It didn’t stop him from joking about a possible one-off effort with his crew chief under the banner of Greg Ives Racing so that both he and Earnhardt could be in the field. But the word came from Hendrick Motorsports general manager Doug Duchardt on the chilly December day at Darlington Raceway while Earnhardt completed the compulsory on-track preparations to gain medical clearance in his return from concussion.
Earnhardt will defer his comeback one week, joining the FOX Sports team to call the action in Saturday night’s Advance Auto Parts Clash (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from the TV booth. But his influence will still resonate in his vote of confidence for Bowman’s ability.
RELATED: Dale Jr. to be in the broadcast booth for ‘The Clash’
"I am very thankful for the opportunity," Bowman said. "Dale’s been so great to me. I wouldn’t be here without him. He is the one that pointed me out when he wasn’t feeling good. I feel like I owe a lot to him, and I am very thankful for him to put me in the car for this race."
Bowman will start eighth in Saturday night’s invitational, the only race currently on his 2017 schedule. The 23-year-old driver, who drove part-time in the XFINITY Series last year, participates in simulation tests for Hendrick Motorsports and some testing duty for Chevrolet.
His 10-race stint during Earnhardt’s recuperation was impressive enough to attract the eyes of a handful of prospective car owners with full-time positions in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. But none were enough to make Bowman jump.
"There was just really wasn’t anything that was going to make me leave Hendrick Motorsports," Bowman said. "I feel like I want to be part of a winning organization whether I am driving, just working for the team, doing testing or doing the simulation stuff. Whatever I’m doing, I want to be part of a winning team. Nothing was going to drag me away from here."
With this event shaping up as a "one night only" performance, Bowman says he isn’t treating the race as another audition. And the fickle nature of restrictor-plate racing has him prepared for all possible outcomes.
The only additional pressure, he says, comes from having a superspeedway expert in Earnhardt observing his efforts with a vested interest from the TV booth. But much like last year, Bowman says he’ll savor the moment.
"It’s another race," Bowman said. "It’s another opportunity to have a lot of fun with Hendrick Motorsports. That is something I kind of tried to do all last season was just to have fun and that is what we are going to try to do on Saturday night and hopefully bring home a trophy."
