By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service June 30, 2019 at 9:27 PM
JOLIET, Ill. – Alex Bowman’s first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup victory at Chicagoland Speedway was as much a lesson in perseverance, determination and guts as it was a show of his raw talent. It took it all those qualities for the 26-year-old driver to reach Victory Lane for the first time in Sunday’s Camping World 400.
Bowman’s No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet held off a hard-charging Kyle Larson for the win by .546-seconds – the two young drivers door-to-door in the closing laps, exchanging the lead twice in the final eight laps of the race.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano, the reigning Cup champion, rallied to a third-place finish, leading Bowman’s teammate Jimmie Johnson and Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney to the checkered flag.
During Bowman’s inaugural victory lap celebration, the Tucson, Arizona, native drove into the track’s infield, still soggy from rain showers that delayed the race finish by nearly three hours. Despite the good celebratory intentions, Bowman’s Chevrolet stuck there, but the good vibes of the night resumed when he climbed out and stood on the car’s roof, waving to the cheering crowd and taking in the moment as a first-time race winner.
“It’s all I’ve wanted my whole life,’’ Bowman said after climbing down off his car’s roof.
“I’m just tired of running second, didn’t want to do that anymore,’’ he said smiling in reference to his three runner-up finishes in the first 16 races of this season.
And he had a good laugh about his stuck-in-the-mud car as he navigated the mucky infield to walk across the track and take the checkered flag he earned.
“I’m the dumb guy that won the race but got the car stuck in the mud.’’
Actually Bowman’s win was an impressive display of drive – both figuratively and literally. His NASCAR career essentially got a “second chance” at glory, when he was hired by the championship Hendrick team to replace the retired Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the famed No. 88 last year. He had competed full time at the Cup level in 2014-15 in a car that was not considered competitive, hoping to gain experience.
He was hired by Hendrick in 2016 to drive Earnhardt’s No. 88 while the sport’s star rehabbed from injury. Bowman then sat out a year of full-time Cup competition in 2017 as Earnhardt finished out his own decorated career. The car was all Bowman’s as of last year.
Earnhardt, who was part of the NBC Sports broadcast team that officially took over the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race broadcasts from partner FOX just his week, was understandably proud in the broadcast booth.
“I’m just so happy for Alex,’’ Earnhardt said. “I’ve seen a majority of his career up close and I’m so happy to see him achieve his dream.’’
Certainly Bowman’s victory Sunday night was not only a shot of emotional adrenalin for himself, but for the whole Hendrick Motorsports team. In addition to Johnson, second-year driver William Byron finished eighth and Chase Elliott finished 11th – the first time this season all four drivers have finished among the top 11. Bowman (88), Johnson (10) and Byron (nine) all led laps.
The big lap leader on the day was Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick, who led a race-best 132 circuits and won Stage 2, but finished 14th after hitting the outside wall late in the race.
For runner-up Larson, the outcome was obviously disappointing since he finished second last year after a tough last-lap battle with Kyle Busch. But the popular Californian seemed genuinely happy for his friend Bowman as well.
“I was actually surprised I even got to him,’’ said Larson, who took the lead from Bowman for two laps on lap 260.
“I thought when he came out about the same distance off pit road in front me, I thought he was just going to check out. But like I said, he was struggling and we were able to get to him and get by him, but did a good job. He did a good job regrouping and figuring out how to make his car drive better and got the win.
“Cool to see him get the win there. Would have liked for him to have to wait another week or so, but happy for him,’’ Larson added with a grin.
