Alonso talked about a number of things, including the Rolex 24, his Indianapolis 500 attempt last year, his full-time job with McLaren in Formula One and his dreams of racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Alonso also got to meet seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. The two chatted in the hallway prior to Johnson’s media availability and then posed for a photo together as Alonso replaced Johnson in the hot seat during the media session.
Interestingly, Alonso said he first heard of Johnson by playing a video game.
“The first time I heard his name, it was probably 2003 or ’04 on a NASCAR video game,” Alonso said. “I used to choose him, not knowing him or knowing the name, just because of the car.
“I remember playing with a friend of mine who … he likes a particular chocolate company that I will not name now and he was choosing that car and I was choosing Jimmie’s car. That was the first time and obviously the success he has in his years in motor racing, he became a legend in our sport. I have massive respect.”
• A pair of NASCAR stars are currently either battling or recovering from the Chili Bowl flu. Kyle Larson, who was scheduled to appear Tuesday during the Media Tour, was forced to skip it because of illness.
Alex Bowman, who fielded a midget for C.J. Leary at the Chili Bowl, was on hand Tuesday but admitted to still feeling a bit rough after battling the Chili Bowl flu last week.
“It’s been a rough week. Last week was pretty rough. Lots of laying in bed doing nothing,” Bowman said. “I’m glad to be feeling better. I’m still not 100 percent, but good enough to be here.”
• Kyle Busch spoke about the addition of Erik Jones to Joe Gibbs Racing on Tuesday, noting that while it’s exciting to have some fresh blood join the Cup Series roster, he hates that it had to come at the expense of a veteran like Matt Kenseth.
“I’m looking forward to having Erik, I’m looking forward to having him as a part of our team. It’s just unfortunate that we had to get rid of a guy and that we’re not able to have Matt Kenseth anymore,” Busch said. “Obviously, I feel as though he was a guy I really looked up to, especially the last few years in looking and watching and understanding what he was able to do and accomplish throughout his career and always being there and always being a championship contender.
“He helped me kind of model myself a little bit, if you will, to being able to make the final four three years in a row,” Busch continued. “It’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve for Erik. It’s going to be a little bit of a setback, if you will, with last year losing Carl (Edwards) and bringing on Daniel (Suarez) and this year losing Matt and bringing on Erik. It’s not quite the veteran status that we had two years ago.”
• Matt Crafton had a clever way of side-stepping questions about the new spec engine in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. When asked about it on two occasions, Crafton responded by saying, “I just look forward to driving my Ford F-150 at Daytona.”
• Clint Bowyer spoke about his dirt late model program, Clint Bowyer Racing, which fields cars for Don O’Neal and Darrell Lanigan in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Bowyer said he enjoys being more involved with the team during the offseason.
“That is fun in the offseason for me, having that and being at the shop,” Bowyer said. “I was polishing the side of the hauler yesterday. All the tires came for Speedweeks. There is literally a semi-load of tires to be mounted. They are going to test in Brunswick (Ga.) for the first race of the year. Penske was there with a shock guy and going though all that stuff. That is ultra competitive and it has really become even more so as the engineering and everything has crept in just like this sport.
“That is my fun. That is what I do for fun,” Bowyer continued. “That is what I enjoy. I am at the shop and I enjoy that during the week, working on those cars. It is no different than the Cup Series. You have new stuff and got the pit box done and the new hot rods are sitting there and the engines, just put one in and blew some smoke yesterday in the five-ball. That is what it is all about. When you are a racer, you can’t get away from it. If it is the offseason and there is a hot-rod sitting there you are going to be working on it.”
• Speaking of dirt, Austin Dillon acknowledged that he’d like to climb back behind the wheel of a dirt late model or dirt modified at some point. The defending Coca-Cola 600 winner spent a lot of time on dirt early in his career, but has moved away from it in the last few years.
“I’ve talked about it and brought it up a couple of times,” Dillon said. “I don’t know. I want to, obviously, it’s just finding the time and the right place to do it. Maybe I will. But right now I’m just really focused on the Cup Series.”
Source :speedsport.com
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