NASCAR Cup Series

Watch out! Clint Bowyer wants to take pace-car bumping to new level

Published Feb. 12, 2015 10:51 a.m. ET

foxsports

One of the most famous scenes from the 1990 film "Days of Thunder" is when crew chief Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall) tells his rookie driver Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) to go out and hit the pace car after a rough outing on the track.

While the iconic scene is a favorite among fans and drivers alike, Michael Waltrip Racing's Clint Bowyer admits he has had some fun with the pace car in the past.

"I've never crashed a pace car driver, but we've bumped them," Bowyer said during Thursday's NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway. "You're just excited because it's the start of the race and, oh by the way, if you're bumping the pace car, you're running really good and you qualified good, so you're in a good mood.

"It's always fun because there's people in there -- usually a celebrity of something -- and you want them to have the experience, too," he said. "You know they're going to go home and say, 'He hit me and the race hadn't even started and he ran into us.'"

One of the biggest jokesters in the sport, Bowyer said he wouldn't mind taking the fun with the pace car a bit further.

"I think it would be kind of funny to spin Buster (Auton, NASCAR pace car driver) down in the grass sometime, though," he said. "That would be hilarious. He wouldn't think that would be funny."

For some reason, it is indeed hard to imagine Auton or NASCAR finding it funny.