Race Weekend Central

Alex Bowman Survives Wild Day at ROVAL, Advances in Playoffs

Alex Bowman came in to the race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL with his eyes set on staying out of trouble and making it to the Round of 12.

Well, one out of two isn’t bad.

Bowman found trouble aplenty on Sunday (Sept. 29), but the Hendrick Motorsports driver bounced back from multiple issues to finish runner-up to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.

Even that nearly wasn’t enough, but the driver he was trailing in the points, Ryan Newman, missed the chicane on the backstretch with three laps to go. The mistake earned Newman a pass through penalty and Bowman a playoff berth into the next round.

It wasn’t the only drama that Bowman found himself tangled up in. The No. 88 Chevrolet got into the chicane too fast on the opening lap and spun. Then, he got into a mid-race scuffle with Bubba Wallace after the No. 43 driver apparently gave Bowman an obscene gesture. Bowman then hooked the right rear corner of Wallace’s car and spun him out coming out of the backstretch chicane.

After the race on pit road, Wallace approached Bowman, who was being treated for dehydration by medical personnel. Wallace threw the contents of his drink bottle in Bowman’s face and stormed off.

Afterward, Bowman was taken to the infield care center for dehydration. Upon his release from the care center, he talked about his up and down day.

“Yeah right there at the end of the race I was about done from a physical standpoint so I just tried to keep digging,” he said. “Obviously I tried to give it away on lap one. It started wheel hopping and kinda got away from me.

“I don’t know if he was mad about the first lap or what. I got flipped off every single straightaway on the race track for like three laps. I got flipped off by him for like three laps at Richmond. So I’m just over it. I gotta stand up for myself at some point. Probably wouldn’t have got wrecked if he had his finger back in the car.”

Asked if he was concerned about the feud becoming an issue in his playoff quest, dodged the answer.

“We just gotta focus on going forward and running well,” he explained. “Obviously, Dover, we finished second in the spring so our race car is gonna be really strong there and we just gotta go capitalize on that.”

Not only did Bowman finish second at Dover, but rather all three tracks that make up the Round of 12 (Dover, Talladega and Kansas).

About the author

Frank Velat has been an avid follower of NASCAR and other motorsports for over 20 years. He brings a blend of passionate fan and objective author to his work. Frank offers unique perspectives that everyone can relate to, remembering the sport's past all the while embracing its future. Follow along with @FrankVelat on Twitter.

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6 Comments
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Christopher

Absolutely classless move by Wallace post race. If Richard Petty has one iota of pride in his team he’d fire Wallace’s butt right now.

Echo

Bubba is a classless guy, always has been. No xfinity wins, no cup wins, wonder how he even got here. Mmmmm

Bill B

re “..,wonder how he got here.”

I KNOW!!! I KNOW!!!!

Echo

lol

Johnnybitchin

Bubba Wallace should be fined by Nascar for interfering with medical staff who were giving aid to a drive with troubling symptoms. If I were Richard Petty I would find a new driver with some class and having sportsmanship traits. The guy is an embarrassment to the sport.

Boatntunes

I don’t care about what Buba did post-race, but here is my question: Given Buba’s average race results, should he worry more about driving and less about flipping people off?

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