Clint Bowyer reached behind his hip and removed a phone from his back pocket, eagerly scrolling through his text messages in search of a prominent sender.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach.
With a smile across his face, Bowyer, NASCAR driver of the No. 14 car, opened a message he received from Veach, turned it toward a room full of media and boasted. On the screen was a photo of a Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes jersey. It was autographed. “To Clint,” Mahomes had written.
“This is going to be on my back Sunday night,” Bowyer said. “You can bet on that.