April 30, 2019 | By Lee Spencer

Bowman hopes career-best run at Talladega rallies No. 88 team

Alex Bowman wasn't going down without a fight at Talladega Superspeedway—until the caution came out on the last lap.

When the yellow flag waved, Bowman’s fate was sealed. The running order was frozen, and the No. 88 Chevrolet was locked into second-place behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.

But what if the race had ended under green?

“Well, I’m not just going to let him win, right? I’ve got to try,” Bowman said. “I knew I could get to his quarter panel. I was pretty confident I could get to his quarter panel in the tri-oval and who knows who’s going to get to the line first at that point. I thought I could do it, but it depends on the car behind you and where he goes.

“It would have been fun to try, but I’m happy for Chase and Nationwide and AXALTA and everybody that let’s us keep doing this thing. I’m glad to kind of turn things around. It’s been a rough start to the year and these guys deserve way better than the finishes they’ve had. So, to come home second is not a win, but it’s headed in the right direction.”

Ask a racer and he’ll tell you second is the first loser. But Bowman hadn’t posted a top 10 in the first nine races. His best result was a pair of 11th-place finishes at Daytona and Las Vegas. He led seven laps in the Geico 500, his first time at the point this season.

Without a Chevrolet win prior Elliott’s victory on Sunday, the manufacturer shifted its strategy to an ‘all-for-one’ mentality. The result? A Chevrolet driver won both stages and the race.

“The strategy was to work together and not hang out other Chevys,” Bowman said. “Work together, stick together and be committed to each another. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Normally, Bowman would have had an advantage entering Talladega, having tested the new competition package two months ago following the Daytona 500. But NASCAR altered the rules following the test—and again between practices on Saturday. Still, the racing was well-received by the fans on Sunday.

Did the Bowman enjoy the ride?

“You’re obviously able to make big runs which is nice,” Bowman said. “But at the same time it’s still speedway racing. It’s really similar. I don't know how you improve it. It depends what they’re looking for. If they want us to run four-wide throughout the entire field without crashing, they just probably need to make the cars drive better.

“If they want racing kind of like that? The cars are kind of a handful. It just really depends what people think is good speedway racing to say how you would improve it.”

Bowman’s Talladega performance was a ray of hope for the No. 88 Nationwide team. But there’s certainly room for growth at other tracks on the circuit. After Dover, the Chevrolets will have to get in gear to out-duel the Toyotas and Fords at Kansas, Charlotte and Pocono.

“I think there’s still work to do on our downforce program,” Bowman said. “But we’re gaining on it really quickly.

“I’m excited about Dover. We didn’t get the finish we deserved there in the fall. We were running fifth or seventh on that final restart and got caught up in someone else’s mess.

“I’m looking  forward to it. I really want to capitalize on this momentum, so that will be good.”