Alex Bowman was nearly unrivaled in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Prior to Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Alex Bowman simply wanted a smooth, eventless race.
Bowman, the polesitter in his No. 48 Ally x Unrivaled League Chevrolet, entered the sixth round of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season with three consecutive top 10 finishes. Despite those promising performances, the 30-year-old native of Tucson, Arizona, noted how his season has been anything but straightforward
“Something’s kind of happened every race that we’ve had to overcome,” Bowman said. “I would like to have some clean days because I feel like we can be further up front than we have been at the end of these things. But it certainly could be a lot worse too.”
Entering Sunday’s race, Bowman ranked fifth in the points standings while in pursuit of his first win of the year. Leading the opening eight laps, the unassuming racer held the number one spot on six different occasions.
The unmistakable blue and pink colors of Unrivaled Basketball adorned Bowman’s ride toward the front of the field all race long. Like the Rose Basketball Club that won the league’s inaugural championship, Bowman’s Chevrolet was a consistent contender, finishing second in Stage 1 and sixth in Stage 2.
Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Ally x Unrivaled League Chevrolet nearly captured the win in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
Netting 14 valuable stage points, Bowman bided his time while Bubba Wallace drove past Kyle Larson in a critical Lap 217 restart. Running a close second to the 23XI Racing driver, Bowman applied the spurs to his Chevrolet on Lap 235, 33 laps from capturing his first win since last year’s Grant Park 165 in Chicago.
With victory within reach, Bowman’s toughest challenger, Larson, closed the gap in the final 10 laps.
On Lap 261, Bowman brushed the Turn 4 wall while Larson was in his wake, allowing the latter to drive past him for the lead on the fronstretch. It was a helpless feeling for the cagey veteran as Larson pulled away to the win by 1.205 seconds.
“The No. 5 was way better than us on the long runs all day and he showed up there at the end,” Bowman said. “I just tried to push a little too hard and kind of hung it in the fence there, so that’s on me. I just didn’t do a good enough job, but congratulations to Kyle Larson and the No. 5 team on getting the win.”
While coming up a spot short, it was Bowman’s best performance at the 1.5-mile intermediate track. Considering he tallied a solid runner-up result, the Hendrick Motorsports racer credited his team on executing at one of their tougher circuits.
“Yeah, it was a good day for the No. 48 Ally Unrivaled League Chevy team,” he observed. “We have some work to do, for sure. But overall, it was a really good weekend for us at a racetrack that hasn’t been very good to us in the past.”
Alex Bowman may have finished second in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but he captured valuable points. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
A bittersweet second place finish is not something for Bowman to be ashamed about as he moves to third in the championship standings, 39 markers behind points leader William Byron. It was Bowman’s fourth consecutive top 10 finish and consistency can play a factor in his team’s championship quest.
Still, he will rue the result knowing how he and crew chief Blake Harris had their best race of this young season. For Bowman, finishing second was a bitter pill to swallow, but there is always next Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, a track he won at in 2021.
“I guess I choked that one away,” Bowman lamented. “Just burned my stuff up. Saw the 5 coming, so moved around a little bit. Not when he passed me, but the time before that I hit it hard with the right front and ended up just bending something enough that I lost a lot of right front feel and then I pulled it off the wall too far right there and ended up hitting the fence pretty bad.
“So I hate that for this Ally 48 group. They deserve better than that. Just a couple of mistakes there. I felt like we were okay all day. That last run was the best we were. Hats off to Ally and Blake and everybody for supporting this 48 team. Hate it for Mr. Hendrick. Congrats to Kyle. We’re going to try to get another one this week.”
