There is nothing more that Alex Bowman wants right now than to reach Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has been putting up great performances this season and is currently ninth on the points table. But a victory has eluded him thus far, and it kept its distance during Sunday’s visit to Iowa Speedway as well.
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Bowman started the race from 16th place and finished it in seventh. This result becomes more impressive when put under the light that he had to overcome an early pit road speeding penalty to attain it. While he was happy for his team at the end of the race, he couldn’t help but worry that he might have secured a better finish or even won the race had it not been for the speeding penalty.
He was asked what more he needed to do to secure the win in his post-race interview. He responded by pointing out how the tires that he was on became useless when they got hot. His right-rear tire, in particular, got extremely hot during a late restart, and he had to focus on preserving it rather than on gaining position.
While he admitted that it was an error on his part that led to the heat, he couldn’t fathom the result. He said, “Once this tire seems to get hot, it seems like it just tanks and you can’t really get it back. I just tried to take care of it from then on. Honestly, I needed to just not speed on pit road early in the race. That hurt us, but it was a good day overcoming that.”
What’s next for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports driver?
As things stand, Bowman is 63 points above the playoff elimination line. Three more races remain to complete the 2025 Cup Series regular season, and he would love to collect a win to his name in at least one of them. The most immediate opportunity is at Watkins Glen International next Sunday, but it is not going to be an easy task to accomplish.
He has never finished better than 14th there in his entire Cup career. This puts added pressure on his crew chief, Blake Harris, as well. It remains to be seen if the No. 48 team will choose to stay out and try to score stage points or if they will take the gamble and go for the win. Either way, Bowman is right up there for the challenge.
