Alex Bowman was not afraid of the Monster Mile…
Through the years, no one drove at Dover quite like Jimmie Johnson. His 11 wins are forever edged in history and his iconic 48 car sits in the hands of Miles, the monster at Dover International Speedway. Sunday saw Alex Bowman take a page off Johnson’s book to take the 48 Chevrolet to the very top of the Monster Mile.
One Kyle’s Joy is Another Kyle’s Sorrow
Stage one kicked off with a clean start and was halted by a competition caution on lap 37. William Byron was running 3rd despite reporting a brake pedal failure. Kyle Busch had issues himself as well, he reported engine problems before dropping out of the top 20 and letting everyone go by. The other Kyle, Larson that is, sat on the lead and was running away with it.
Larson found himself closer to Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney by the end of the stage. Nonetheless, he came comfortably in first. Chase Elliott was among the highlights of the first stage as his #9 Chevy was sent to the back for unapproved adjustments and made to the 4th spot by the end of the segment.
Elliott was Eager to Push
Leaders dove into the pits for the start of the second stage before running into a second caution at the restart. Lap 131st saw the race get back in action with Busch running 7 laps down as his engine was not playing along at the Monster Mile. Caution flags waived yet again forty laps later thanks to Josh Berry. The #77 Camaro hit the wall on a flat tire in the middle of the straight. Almost everyone pitted and the NAPA Chevrolet made his move. Elliott came out of the pits in second ready to chase Larson.
The rest of the stage flew by pretty smoothly. Only exceptions were teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski who rubbed tires and traded paint. Regardless, both cars came out of the encounter intact. Hendrick Motorsports had a commanding lead over the race at this point as Larson was followed by teammates Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and William Byron in the top 5. There was still a lot of race to be raced with one last stage to go.
Bowman WIns the Race Within the Race
160 laps to go and only a single winner could emerge off Dover’s cement turns. That one wouldn’t be Martin Truex Jr. as last week’s winner was nowhere to be found. The #19 Camry started the stage 12th and didn’t move an inch. A little over the last 100 laps mark, Aric Almirola found some massive trouble on the wall. The Cuban American driver hit the barrier hard and struggled to get out of his car limping and holding onto one of his arms.
We were left with one of the last races on the pits as Almirola left the track en route to the infield care center. Alex Bowman came first off the pits and finally took the lead off teammate Larson. Horses ran loose for only a couple of laps as Anthony Alfredo spun on the stretch to bring out another caution. At this point, the race got slightly slow thanks to yet another yellow flag brought to us by a cooling pipe wandering around the track.
Clean air did wonders for Alex Bowman as it allowed him to pull off his teammates and let them fight for themselves. He then went into a solid run, finding only minimal traffic as the laps ticked down to the final 20. Rain was racing to the track as well but didn’t quite make it before Bowman crossed the finish line.
The iconic 48 was back at Victory Lane. Bowman’s win marks the first time the legendary car claimed a victory at Dover since 2017.
What’s Next for NASCAR?
Next weekend will be a historical for NASCAR as all of its national series get ready to race for the first time at the Circuit of the Americas. Action starts Saturday with the Camping World Truck Series.
Missed last week’s race? Check it out HERE
Featured Image: Getty Images
