Alex Bowman foresees Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega playing out like a chess match. (Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
LINCOLN, Ala. – Alex Bowman’s consistent ways have served him well in spite of the 60-point penalty assessed following the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Ranked 11th and with a series best 10th place average finish, the 29-year-old native of Tucson, Arizona enters Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with some optimism.
Namely, in Bowman’s sole start last year at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, the ninth-year Cup racer placed ninth.
This time around, the driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro has some confidence beyond his skills and teammates. In this case, he may have a secret weapon in Blake Harris, his new crew chief.
“Our team always brings really fast race cars,” Bowman said in a team press release. “I have just figured out every way to get caught up in something at superspeedways, so hopefully this weekend we can keep our car clean and contend for a win.
“Blake’s guy (Michael McDowell) did pretty good here last year and I think we have a good foundation, so I am optimistic about what we can accomplish.”
Likewise, Harris expressed the same hope as he reflected on his prior driver’s efforts at Talladega in concert with Bowman’s superspeedway skills in recent times.
Bowman hopes his Mr. Consistency ways come into play at Talladega. (Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
“Statistically, last year we had some really good superspeedway runs,” Harris said in a team press release. “Michael did a really good job in those races. Alex did a really good job at staying clean this year at the DAYTONA 500 and got our first top five in our first race – that was big.
“Then, we go to Atlanta and we ran basically inside the top 10 all day and got shuffled there at the end.”
Harris noted how it takes a bit of guile and patience to contend in the defining moments of a superspeedway race. Strategy and alliances are helpful, but it takes the basic fundamentals and fortune to contend in the waning moments.
“There is a big part of just surviving these races and to be able to be there at the end, you have to be aggressive enough during the race to know what you need to get through the field,” he said. “That approach stays the same for this weekend. We need a little luck on our side to get through all the wrecks, but at the same time we have to make sure we have ourselves in a position to win at the end of the race. Hopefully, we can continue what we started in Daytona.”
Although Talladega is perceived as a vastly different track than Daytona in terms of its width and size, Bowman foresees similarities coming into play along with the essential but sometimes difficult skill of patience coming into play.
“I think it’s going to look just like Daytona, like nothing’s changed,” Bowman said. “The racetrack is a little bit different, but it’ll be pretty similar to Daytona. So track position is going to be key with the way the race plays out. It’s really who can save fuel the best for most of the day. And then you actually race at the end.
“If you’ve saved enough fuel or if you haven’t, then you’re still saving fuel. So it’s a bunch of riding around. Hopefully, we play the strategy right. Hopefully, things fall our way and it’s a chess game, for sure.”
Editor’s Notes
Stephen Conley contributed to this article directly on-site from Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama.
