JOLIET, Ill. – Subbing for close friend and mentor Dale Earnhardt Jr., who continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms, Alex Bowman earned his first career top-10 finish in Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Bowman started 17th and while he didn’t have the speed to challenge for a top-five finish, the Phoenix, Arizona native did use pit strategy to stay on track to lead six laps from Laps 243 to 248 before ducking down to pit road and handing the lead back to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.
Ultimately the pit strategy and track position were key components for the 23-year-old on the restart, Bowman rose from 11th on the bottom lane to fend off Jamie McMurray for the 10th position and one of three Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets inside the top-10 in the opening round in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“It means a lot that Hendrick Motorsports has taken a chance on me and I really appreciate the opportunity to be here and we wish Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) a speedy recovery,” said Bowman. “Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and Axalta worked so hard. They brought a great race car.”
Although not eligible for the Chase, the finish was a welcomed sign for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team who hadn’t finished inside the top-10 since a second by Earnhardt at Pocono Raceway in June.
“We were really good at the start of the race. It didn’t seem to like the initial takeoff, but once we built air pressures it seemed pretty solid,” added Bowman. “But we were running sixth or eighth there; and then we had two really bad runs and fell back.
“We tried some pit strategy and got pretty good there at the end. Greg (Ives, crew chief) made a good call to take two (tires) and recover from those two bad runs we had and get us a solid top 10.”
With Earnhardt out for the rest of 2016, Bowman will drive the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in seven of the remaining nine races including next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon will return for his penultimate race of the season at Dover International Speedway on Oct. 2 then Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 30. Gordon’s best finish in the No. 88 Chevrolet thus far was an 11th at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
