Sitting 16th on the playoff cutline and with the weight of an 80-race winless streak on his shoulders, Alex Bowman and the No. 48 team were willing to gamble.
After a 90-minute red flag for rain, Bowman and his team opted to stay on wet weather tires and make a run for a checkered flag. Through gutsy driving, Bowman and his team outran the field and won the Streets of Chicago.
“Any time you go to the track with Hendrick Motorsports you have a shot. We have a trophy to take home, [I] know it means a lot to this team, they put me in position to win this race,” said Bowman.
“I broke my back.., had a brain injury.., we kinda sucked ever since. You start to second guess if you’re ever going to win again.”
Bowman collected his first win since 2022’s spring Las Vegas race. Additionally, he recorded his first win of the season and his first Cup road course win, locking himself into the 2024 playoffs.
This win also marks his first after he broke his back in a 2023 Sprint Car crash. The season prior, he sustained a concussion after a wreck in the Texas fall race.
He missed a combined total of nine weeks due to injuries.
Since then he’s been searching for victory lane, with a gamble and a little bit of luck, he found it.
The Streets of Chicago didn’t disappoint. It fit every description of a wildcard event that NASCAR meant to display in the circuit’s second year.
It started with projected rain coming down on the track while the cars were still on the grid pre-race. What followed was NASCAR giving the teams the choice to put on slicks or wet weather tires to begin the race, which had never been attempted prior.
Then, the heavyweight favorites of Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen, and Ty Gibbs slugged it out and battled for the lead.
But soon came the rain. Some of the precipitation hindered the racing surface, with painted crosswalks making it slippery for cars, as rainwater became soapy.
Then one-by-one down went the heavyweights. After winning the inaugural Cup race and Saturday’s Xfinity race, van Gisbergen wrecked after contact with Chase Briscoe on lap 25.
Kyle Larson went hard into the tire barrier while trying to pass Ty Gibbs for second, ending his day on lap 34.
The final heavyweight bowed out when Christopher Bell was turned while trying to chase down Bowman with time set to expire on the race.
So race fans have nothing to complain about regarding this weekend? Well, if there were one thing, it’d be the start time.
Today’s green flag was delayed by a handful of minutes due to protestors on the track’s catch fence, which allowed the weather to move ever closer to the track before the race ever started.
While that could be criticized, as it fairly could with Chicago in its two-year existence seeing two rain-affected races, it’s a valid point. However, that’s fixable with scheduling, perhaps NASCAR could start at 2 pm next year, although you’d give up a primetime TV window.
Today we saw a great event that was marred with bad luck. Rain was projected at 20 percent to enter the weekend, and with a perfectly clear Xfinity race, hopes were high for Sunday’s event.
But instead, rain came, and while today’s start time and time-shortened race is worth arguing, NASCAR improvised upon conditions they normally wouldn’t in years prior. That’s progress.
Allowing teams the option to choose wet weather or slicks on a wet track to start the race was good. Having engaging fan fest events and concerts penciled in between the two races was another plus.
Having a relaxed yellow, and not immediately throwing it for spins that aren’t threatening to the safety of the race was another plus, you factor in hard racing and race control refereeing the controlables all factored into the ultimate goal: taking the product to a big market, where new eyes can see the sport: check.
There’s minimal to complain about. The team with the most stage points, and whose strategy paid, won today’s race, and is something you can’t be mad about.
The Streets of Chicago should return next year, with a moved-up start time and hopefully without weather to put on a clear start-to-finish event.
Without a straightforward race, however, came surprise finishers. Joey Hand in a one-off with RFK Racing finished fourth, Michael McDowell of Front Row Motorsports came home fifth, JTG Daugherty’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr slotted in sixth, Todd Gilliland finished seventh, Kyle Busch, in need of something positive finished ninth, Kaulig’s Daniel Hemric crossed the line 12th and Justin Haley of Rick Ware Racing came home 16th.
Notably post-race, during the cooldown lap, Bubba Wallace door slammed Alex Bowman. Bowman came into a corner hot, and wrecked Wallace early, ruining his day.
Although Bowman was remorseful during his red flag interview and cited visibility due to him trying to turn his windshield wiper on, Wallace still took exception to the incident.
“First off want to apologize to the #23 guys, tried to get my windshield wiper on and missed [the] corner and ruined their day,” said Bowman postrace.
“Hate that [it happened], I’m still embarrassed about it.”
The two have had prior run-ins, where Wallace splashed Gatorade in Bowman’s face while seeking medical attention after a 2019 race at the Charlotte ROVAL.
NASCAR has since said they will review Wallace’s actions post race during this week.
Now with 12 different winners in the 2024 season, only six races remain with just four spots available until the playoffs.
Up next, the Cup Series will head to Pocono Raceway, which will undoubtedly provide a fuel milage wildcard as the summer rolls on. Kyle Larson only leads Chase Elliott in the regular season points by just 11 points.
Coverage from The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com begins at 2:30 pm on USA Network, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
The Slow Restart 