No one diet can feed everybody’s hunger

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Today’s menu in Clint Bowyer’s motorhome: Steak and potatoes, French fries.

Today’s menu in Danica Patrick’s motorhome: Acorn squash, ground beef, spinach, berries with a little bit of almond butter.

Today’s menu in Ryan Blaney’s motorhome: “Who’s up for a Chipotle run?”

Like most of us, NASCAR drivers are always looking to find a balance of a healthy diet and the sweet temptations of Cheat Day. Unlike a car, there’s no template in finding fuel for the system.

The extremes range from Danica’s non-dairy, non-gluten, nongrain diet to Bowyer, her new teammate with Stewart-Haas Racing. He stays true to his roots after growing up in Emporia, Kan. — meat and starches, with the occasional beer chaser.

“I grew up on steak and potatoes and French fries,” Bowyer said. “Hell, who doesn’t like French fries? If you have to work a little harder to eat French fries, so be it.”

Bowyer went to another go-to entree — pork ribs — for his meal Thursday night, letting them get “fall-off-the-rib” juicy in a smoker outside his motorhome at Daytona International Speedway.

We don’t know how the other half lives, but Clint Bowyer has it good.

“I don’t always eat bad,” he said, “but I’m not about to turn something good down either.”

Bowyer is a bit of an anomaly, but in a good way. He has always been an irreverent blue-collar guy, the kind that old-school fans embrace.

You may remember that in grandpappy’s day, the Cup Series was sponsored by a tobacco company. Now it’s Monster Energy and a new buzz.

If you want an extra-healthy kick, stick with Danica. Patrick, 34, is what some people call a “health nut,” although for her it’s more of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle involving health and nutrition. She does yoga regularly and monitors each calorie and food content.

“I think health and wellness is always an ongoing evolution,” she said. “I was totally the non-fat girl once. Then I was the non-carb girl. Then I was the non-dairy girl and then was the low-cal girl. I’ve gone through every iteration. The only thing I haven’t done is vegan. That’s the only thing left to try and I have no desire to try it right now because with the amount of exercise that I do I’m not sure I could sustain on vegetables and fruit.”

Blaney loves a Chipotle run for sustainable fuel on occasion. And it has been hard for him to turn down cheese curds. At 23, Blaney has that super-young metabolism that can burn anything off, including the occasional craving for somewhathealthy fast food.

“Chipotle is huge,” said Blaney, running for Wood Brothers Racing in a Ford this season. “I’m a big chorizo guy now. Chorizo and chicken, bowls with brown rice, black beans, cheese and guacamole. I might actually go today because it sounds good.”

At 37, Bowyer no longer has metabolism as a friend or ally. But he hasn’t overcompensated by becoming a foodie or banging weights in the gym all day. He has no secrets, unlike Carl Edwards, the former Cup star who valued the importance of his workouts so much that he never shared his routine with anyone.

“It’s my mentality,” Bowyer said. “I work hard and burn calories and do all that stuff but I can’t stand going to a gym locking myself in a dungeon and lifting weights and looking at myself in the mirror. That’s not enjoyment for me.”

So which NASCAR driver has the worst eating habits? The smart money may be on Ryan Newman of Richard Childress Racing.

Newman went out to eat sushi with Danica and her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in Daytona Beach on Tuesday night. Newman does not do sushi, but he agreed to take a bite off the menu only if Danica would eat something he likes as a pay-it-forward deal.

So they stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way back.

“Newman had three doughnuts,” Patrick said.

“And probably washed it down with a Coca-Cola,” Bowyer said.

Patrick took a bite of a doughnut and was thankful she didn’t die.