Tyler Bowers has faced plenty of adversity as of late. He has been racing as a privateer for some time now and recently suffered a hard crash at the 2018 Oakland Supercross that resulted in broken ribs, along with plenty of bruising and discomfort. Despite this, he has continued racing and has even had some highlight moments since, including nearly winning his heat race at the 2018 Arlington
Supercross. After Josh Grant injured his lower leg, requiring surgery, Bowers was quickly brought in to fill the role of Grant. In less than a week, he went from being a privateer to having a factory ride and now has the opportunity he’s been working towards.
This is a bit of a different bike than what you've been riding the last few rounds. How did everything come together in a week?
It was real quick! That Monday was President's Day, so I was expecting a call then, but everyone was off work and I didn't get the call until Tuesday. It was all last minute and Josh Grant had to get his stuff figured out too with how long he was going to be out for and all of that. They had to iron out the politics and stuff. I got the call on Tuesday and rode the bike on Wednesday. It's still a far cry from my setup, but it's a Kawasaki 450 so it's what I was riding. It's got the same bars, same clamps, stuff like that. Clearly, it's got a different engine and some different chassis parts, but it's awesome. I've worked with these guys before and I've filled in here in 2016 during outdoors so I've got a close relationship with this team already. It's a great opportunity for me. The privateer effort is quite the headache. I've got to work out all of the logistics of getting to the races. My bike was great though, I can't lie. I had a lot of people supporting me. It was just really hard to do the logistics of getting to the races with making sure that I had food, a hotel, making sure my mechanic is getting paid, everything had to be dialed in and I had to worry about everything. I was wearing a lot of hats. Now with this effort, it takes a lot off of my shoulders and I can just focus on racing. We've got some more stuff to test and we'll try to improve from there.
With it being a week-to-week deal, what are you hoping to do in these next few rounds while you're here?
I'm still a little beat up from that Oakland crash, but that's the thing. After Oakland, I broke some ribs and stuff, and it would have been easy to just sit on the couch, but I couldn't be the guy hurt. I'm supposed to be the guy that's healthy to take place of the guys that are hurt. I've just been toughing it out each weekend and I'm still beat to hell. I'm just trying to get through it and build on it. This first week is all about getting warm with the guys. We'll build each weekend. Realistically, I led most of the heat race in Arlington so we can win some heat races. I'll start with small goals and try to get out there and win a heat race before the end of the season. Then we'll work on the main events. If I'm in a good position, I want to take full advantage of it. These guys need two bodies on the track so I can't be hurt. If it's a rough day, I'll count my blessings, try to get through it, and move onto the next weekend.
I'm still a little beat up from that Oakland crash, but that's the thing. After Oakland, I broke some ribs and stuff, and it would have been easy to just sit on the couch, but I couldn't be the guy hurt. I'm supposed to be the guy that's healthy to take place of the guys that are hurt. I've just been toughing it out each weekend and I'm still beat to hell. I'm just trying to get through it and build on it. This first week is all about getting warm with the guys. We'll build each weekend. Realistically, I led most of the heat race in Arlington so we can win some heat races. I'll start with small goals and try to get out there and win a heat race before the end of the season. Then we'll work on the main events. If I'm in a good position, I want to take full advantage of it. These guys need two bodies on the track so I can't be hurt. If it's a rough day, I'll count my blessings, try to get through it, and move onto the next weekend.
When it came to the crash you had and the injury, it must have been difficult to push right through it and keep on racing.
Yeah, it sucked I won't lie. It still sucks. Every night my ribs are still killing me and I can only sleep on one side. I still wake up in the middle of the night to roll over and it hurts. Even now, like in Arlington in the main event, I was ninth until about 12 minutes in. I get to the point where my chest muscles get real tight because they're guarding my ribs and I can't breathe after that. I hit a pretty gnarly wall at that point. I went ninth or tenth to sixteenth real quick. San Diego wasn't actually as bad surprisingly, I got into a flow and a lot of riders went down so I ended up fourteenth there. Like I said, I'll start with the heat races because they're a little bit shorter and I'm still beat up. The goal is to win one or two of those and then finish up high in the main event. These injuries are still holding me back a little bit, but I've got Dr. Navaro taping me up real good so I can hold onto this machine and go for it.