Alex Bowman during pre-race driver introductions for the Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 11, 2025. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Alex Bowman finished in the fifth position during Sunday’s Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway, scoring his first top-five finish since finishing in second place at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March.
Bowman had a fairly consistent day despite having so much adversity to overcome, including driving from a 21st starting position to finish sixth in Stage 1 and finishing seventh in Stage 2 after hitting the wall while battling three-wide with Zane Smith and Denny Hamlin on Lap 95.
“We were really fast with our Ally (No.) 48 Chevy,” Bowman said after the race. “Just hats off to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, you don’t get cars that are that fast that often.”
Alex Bowman (No. 48) racing Brad Keselowski (No. 6) for position during the Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
After hitting the wall during Stage 2 amid battling three-wide for position, Bowman thought the car was hurt significantly after the contact, even though he was able to drive up to finish in fifth place. This showed the overall speed of his car this weekend at a style of track that the No. 48 team has run well on thus far in 2025.
“Super pleased with my race car,” he said. “Crashed it on the restart in Stage 2, and it did everything worse the whole rest of the day and we still ran top five. So, hats off to Blake Harris (crew chief) and all the guys.”
The 1.5-mile-long racetracks have been a strong suit for Bowman and his No. 48 team to start the 2025 season, as they have recorded top five finishes at Homestead-Miami Speedway and now Kansas Speedway. They also finished seventh at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Bowman led a season-high 43 laps en route to the runner-up finish at Homestead-Miami.
Alex Bowman racing at Kansas Speedway during race No. 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series season, where he would go on to finish in the fifth position. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
Finishing fifth and totaling 41 points also helps stop the bleeding in what had been a brutal previous five races for Bowman. In those five starts, Bowman finished outside the top 25 four times, including three finishes of 35th or worse, and fell from third in the NASCAR Cup Series driver point standings to 10th.
With the solid points day today, Bowman rebounded to eighth place in the point standings, 44 points above Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the final spot in the provisional playoffs through 12 races.
Next weekend, the series heads to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET. The teams will then remain in North Carolina for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25 at 6:00 p.m. ET, the next points-paying race of the season. Charlotte Motor Speedway is yet another 1.5-mile track and a place where Bowman would like to continue his momentum after today’s strong performance.
