Alex Bowman may be the new closer based off his Pennzoil 400 heroics. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Perhaps Alex Bowman and his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team will revise Las Vegas’ nickname from “The Sin City” to “The Win City.”
After all, Bowman was prime for a win in spite of starting from the lucky 13th starting position. No matter the superstitions with such a number, the 28-year-old Tucson, Arizona native was up to the challenge with Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Right from the start, Bowman had a strong car, marching his way to the front with a stage 1 win. A lap 136 penalty for a equipment interference sent the eighth year NASCAR Cup Series veteran toward the back of the field.
Placing 19th in stage 2, Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives kept focused, set on minimizing the loss of track position in the final stage. With Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing essentially running away with things in the final laps, it looked like Bowman would have to settle for best in class for Chevrolet.
Instead, a lap 266 caution involving Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace resulted in the race’s final caution period. Busch and Truex, easily with the two best cars in the final stage, seemed like impassable road blocks for the likes of Bowman and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron.
Call it brilliance or pure logic on the part of the crews of Bowman, Larson and Byron. The Hendrick trio settled for two tires only whereas their on track rivals took on four scuff tires.
Larson led the field to a NASCAR Overtime restart on lap 272 with Bowman leading the inside line and Byron tucked behind Larson on the outside line. Despite Larson’s well timed restart and competitive No. 5 car, Bowman was too much for the defending Cup champion.
Bowman passed Larson on lap 272, protecting the bottom line while his teammate focused on building a strong run on the high line. In the end, it was all for naught for Larson while Bowman scored his first win of the 2022 season.
The normally mild mannered Bowman considered the Overtime restart and subsequent winning pass.
No, it shouldn’t surprise you at all. (Photo: Jordan Anders-McClain | The Podium Finish)
“No, I was really surprised,” he said. “On the front row there, you have to run so much throttle. We had been free on the short run, pretty good on the long run. I mean, I kind of feel like I know. Obviously a lot has changed with this race car, but typically two tires tighten you up a ton.
“We were on old tires earlier in the day, like cold old tires. When we had the pit road issue, we came back and put old tires on. I was super tight the whole run. I was worried we were going to be super tight. On the front row, you got to drive it like it’s going to stick. Thankfully, it stuck.”
In the words of a Huey Lewis and the News song, Bowman was just happy to be stuck with those Goodyear tires. Beyond the brilliant pit call by Greg Ives and the other Hendrick crew chiefs, Cliff Daniels and Rudy Fugle, the organization’s second consecutive win serves a great testament to their hard work during the Next Gen era.
“I think Hendrick Motorsports, the depth of people and how good each and every person is there, pays off,” Bowman shared. “We’re here with a new race car that has completely changed everything in our industry, from how they work on it, how they build it
“Everything I touch is different, the pedals, shifter, the steering. Obviously it’s paying off, how good everybody is at HMS. I think we’re in a pretty good spot.”
Compared to the season’s first two races, the Daytona 500 and WISE Power 400, the Arizonan’s first Cup win of the year was a great shot in the arm for the cagey racer and his team.
“Obviously, Daytona and Fontana didn’t go well for us,” he observed. “Happy to be able to get a win this early. The strength of the Hendrick cars this early has been great. There’s so many unknowns this year. There’s a lot going on. Excited to have the rest of the year to keep dialing these things in and be ready for the Playoffs.”
With the first race win out of the way, it allows Bowman and his team to continually finetune their fleet of cars. Similarly, it also means Bowman’s approach has greatly changed when he’s in the driver’s seat.
I think I’m doing fine, I think I’m pretty smart. (Photo: Meg Oliphant | Getty Images)
“We are race car drivers,” he said. “We don’t want everything that we touch in the entire car to change all of a sudden. The pedals are weird. The steering is way different. The seating position is different. Absolutely everything that I do as a race car driver has completely changed. Historically, I’ve loved loose race cars.
“Cried like a little girl when I’m tight. I now have to figure out how to drive a tight race car because I can’t make a loose race car work anymore. Just got to figure out new things, and it is hard. But, yeah, I think the car is doing what it’s supposed to.”
Beyond the car performing to Bowman’s liking, it’s safe to say that the seven-time Cup race winner approves today’s racing and its intense on track product.
“The races have been great,” he opined. “Fontana historically was always won by like this big margin. Now we have close races each and every week. It’s been really, really good.”
Top 10 Finishers
Bowman-Larson-Chastain-Kyle Busch-Byron/Almirola-Reddick-Martin Truex Jr.-Elliott-Bell
