April 18, 2021 | By Lee Spencer

Alex Bowman squelches top Richmond contenders with late-race charge

On a day when Jimmie Johnson struggled in his IndyCar coming-out party, an emotional Alex Bowman finally returned the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to Victory Lane for the first time since Johnson won at Dover on June 4, 2017.

Bowman, who came back from a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire on Lap 240, seemed like an unlikely candidate for the win, as Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano dominated the second half of the Toyota Owners 400. 

But on the final restart, Bowman wheeled past both drivers, took the lead with 10 laps to go and held on for his third career win. 

“Holy cow,” Bowman screamed over the radio. “Hell yes! Good job, guys. I can’t believe we just did that at Richmond.”

Despite his short-track background, Bowman not only stunned Hamlin and Logano, but he also seemed to surprise himself by winning at the .75-mile D-shaped oval.

“Great car—it’s as simple as that,” Bowman said. “(Crew chief) Greg Ives and all the guys… they’ve got to deal with me on short tracks. I drive these places really wrong, and instead of trying to make me figure it out, we went to work on getting the race car to where I needed it to be. Greg has done such an amazing job of making that happen.”

Bowman teared up when he thought of crew member Rowdy Harrell, who was killed in a car wreck last November along with his new bride Blakley.

“This one is for Rowdy and his family,” Bowman said. “I miss him and Blakley every day. This means the world to be able to win for (sponsor) Ally. I’m definitely emotional, obviously, with how hard the offseason was on us. I appreciate the opportunity, and we’ve got more races to win this year.”

Hamlin, who won the first two stages, finished .381-seconds behind Bowman. Logano, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Matt DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10.

The race turned into contest between the haves and the have-nots. With only one accident-related caution in the first two stages—when Ryan Newman spun in Turn 3 on Lap 140 after getting the worst of a three-wide incident—only 12 cars remained on the lead lap. In the final stage, an extended green-flag run thinned the lead lap cars to just seven prior to the fifth and final caution on Lap 381. Kevin Harvick had been running sixth when he cut a right rear tire and hit the wall in Turn 1. 

The lead-lap cars pitted, with Hamlin taking the lead off of pit road followed by Logano, Bowman, Bell, Almirola, Truex and Byron. Kyle Busch, who was penalized after his green-flag pit stop on Lap 347 for a commitment line violation and dropped off the lead lap, received the lucky dog. Before the race returned to green on Lap 389, DiBenedetto, Dillon, Chase Elliott and Kurt Busch took the wave around. 

Hamlin appeared to be in charge—until he was challenged by Bowman. Hamlin reported he had no grip as the No. 48 Chevrolet left him in the dust.

Although Hamlin continued his streak of six top-five finishes with his second-place result, he also continued the run of drivers who have won the first stage but failed to capitalize on the win. 

Hamlin seemed less than pleased with the outcome.

“We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end,” Hamlin said. “I tried to warm it up and do everything that I could—just the 48 (Bowman) had a little more on those last few laps, and I couldn’t hold the bottom. Once he got the position, we were just shut down there.”

Hamlin led a race-high 207 laps. He extended his points lead to 81 over Martin Truex Jr. But his eight top-fives in nine races to start the season are most ever without a win. 

"We will get them," Hamlin said. "We will keep digging. We are dominating--just have to finish it.”