Bowman’s Must-Win Bid Falls Short Late In Bristol

Alex Bowman needed to win Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, and couldn't pull through. (Jacob Seelman/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Regardless of anything that happened during Saturday night’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, Alex Bowman needed to win.

Although he showed strong fight and had a late chance to achieve the unthinkable, Bowman’s needed breakthrough fell short.

Bowman finished eighth in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race and failed to advance to the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as a result. His bid at a championship ended early this season.

“When we had some green-flag runs, I thought our No. 48 Ally Chevy was really good. It just cycled really poorly on restarts,” said Bowman. “I would drive off into turn one and just hope to make the corner. For whatever reason, it just wouldn’t take off, and then after five laps or so, it would go again.

“I just couldn’t figure it out if it was something I was doing. I felt like I was cleaning the tires off too much sometimes, so I don’t really know what we lacked.”

Tires and handling were an issue for all drivers on Saturday. Goodyear bought a new right side tire compound to the track for the fall weekend. With aggressive wear in the race catching teams off guard and numerous flats, damage, marbles, and rubber fires, each team had their work cut out for them.

On Friday Bowman qualified 15th, which wasn’t bad, but not great in terms of his goal to win. He actually went a lap down in the middle of stage one, but through the timing of pit cycles never got pinned off the lead lap, though he did spin in a battle with Riley Herbst near the end of the stage.

As the race developed and crew chief Blake Harris’ strategy began to come to fruition, Bowman rallied and worked himself into the top 15. From there, amid comers and goers due to tire wear and handling going away for other rivals, Bowman found himself inside the top five with a legitimate chance.

Running inside the top five was good, but it didn’t mean much as the 31-year-old still needed a win to advance. That chance wouldn’t come until playoff competitor Austin Cindric suffered a late tire issue, causing a small fire in his box on pit road.

Bowman gain points as Cindric faltered and was on the brink of getting above the cut, but it never materialized, even though a pit stop for one final set of fresh tires inside 30 to go allowed Bowman to go on the charge in the closing laps.

The night’s final yellow flag with 13 to go, however, ended that beacon of hope.

On the final restart Bowman chose up to fourth and was in position. But being out of fresh tires spoiled his effort and forced him settle for eighth.

“I don't think you can really point at something that cost us. Being out of tires at the end isn't good and we just played the hand that we could and stayed out,” Bowman said. “But if I had to pick one thing, our cycle tire restarts were just really poor. I couldn’t go at all. [Had] zero grip. Our restarts on stickers, or even when we’d put our qualifying scuffs on and stuff … those were fine, but cycle tires were really bad.

“Certainly, sucks to not transfer, but our back was against the wall coming in here. We knew it was going to be a tough thing to do. Not a terrible day for us, and we’ll keep digging,” added Bowman. “Hats off to our whole Ally 48 team. They did a good job throughout the course of the day and tried to get better after a rough last two weeks. I think we swung it in the right direction, and we can continue to do that for the next seven weeks left.

“We’ve just got to keep digging.”

Despite the playoff disappointment, Bowman clinched his third top 10 in the last four Bristol races.

But his hunt for a championship after eight years with Hendrick Motorsports will have to wait another year. Next year marks the final one of his most recent contract extension from 2023, with Bowman seeking his first win since the Chicago (Ill.) Street Race in 2024.

With seven weeks remaining in the season, the Tucson, Ariz., native turns his focus to the one remaining goal he can accomplish: spoiling the playoff drivers’ party by winning before the year is out.

“We’re a capable race team, and just the last two weeks, we’ve just not been very good. I thought those tracks would be a little tough for us, but not how they were,” Bowman said. “We have some work to do on our race cars, but everybody is always working and getting better.”

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Bowman has one career top 10, a ninth place effort in 2021. Most recently at the ‘Magic Mile’, he finished 36th last year due to an engine problem.

But Bowman is eager to right the ship and begin rebuilding momentum for the future.

“Just proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for the fight. We obviously had a shot at it if we would have gone green to the end,” said Bowman. “We had a good Ally Chevy compared to yesterday. We made some gains on it and still have some gains we need to make.”

Coverage of the Mobil 1 301 from New Hampshire is slated for Sunday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. ET on USA, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.