Apparently, it was open season on Clint Bowyer in the Fox Sports booth last Sunday, when the retired NASCAR driver and current color commentator was joined by Mike Joy, Tony Stewart, and special celebrity guest Gwen Stefani ahead of the 2023 Clash at The Coliseum. Now, Bowyer is used to the occasional ribbing from Joy, his partner in the broadcast booth, and Stewart, his former boss at Stewart-Haas Racing. But, he probably didn't expect to be the target of ridicule from Stefani during the lead-up to the NASCAR Cup Series exhibition race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Now, Gwen and Clint actually go way back, as he and Gwen's husband, country music star Blake Shelton, are good friends. Stefani, the famous singer/songwriter and No Doubt frontwoman, referenced that friendship when she took her first shot at Clint in the booth.
"I was getting really nervous coming up the elevator," Stefani admitted. "And then Blake Shelton said, 'If Clint Bowyer can do it, any moron can do it.' So I felt really good because I'm like any moron."
Stefani then tried to soften the dig by paying Clint a compliment, but then Stewart hit Bowyer with the second major zinger of the day.
"I honestly was very ignorant to this whole sport until I met this genius over here, Clint Bowyer," Stefani said. "It is exciting, and it's scary. And I wondered how you guys did this up here. You're up here actually just hanging out, talking and observing and just hanging out like friends."
Tony followed that up with the hilarious diss: "I think we're caught off guard because that's two things that we've never heard in the same sentence, and that's Clint Bowyer and genius."
As if all that weren't enough, Stefani went on to embarrass Bowyer big time by recalling the first time that they met. Let's just say that Clint wasn't in the most, well, sober of states during their first major interaction.
Who knew @ClintBowyer could sing? @gwenstefani can confirm. pic.twitter.com/iURqRp2EDR
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 5, 2023
Despite trying his best to interrupt Gwen and keep her from telling the story, Clint had to stand there red-faced while she talked about how an extremely drunk Clint sang "Don't Speak," the popular No Doubt song, during a campfire. Not only that, but the 43-year-old Kansas native apparently couldn't stop gushing that night about how he was such a big fan of Stefani's. Gwen insisted she brought the story up as a compliment, but Clint wasn't really having it and was quick to change the subject.
In a tweet addressing the buzzworthy on-air moment the next day, Clint decided to shift the attention to Tony, pointing out how he was seemingly starstruck during the entire interaction.
"The best part of having Gwen on was watching Tony Stewart," Bowyer tweeted. "Acts like a grizzly bear....But in front of her my man was speechless. I couldn't get him to even ask her a question. Dying!!!!"
Hey, Tony, can't say we blame you for that one.
