by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Alex Bowman picked up the 8th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s USA Today 301 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway when his #48 Ally Chevrolet lost the engine after 142 of 305 laps.

The finish, which came in Bowman’s 307th series start, was his first of the season and first since July 2, 2023 on the Chicago Street Course, 35 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 25th for the #48, the 720th from engine issues, and the 858th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 35th for the #48, the 1,141st from engine problems, and the 1,946th for Chevrolet.

Last year saw Bowman endure his first winless Cup season since 2018, a year where he also missed three races following injuries suffered in a sprint car accident. Still looking for his first win in over two years, however, Bowman has already turned heads with impressive consistency. Through the first 17 races of the season, he’s already matched his Top Five (4) and Top Ten (10) totals from a year ago, placing him firmly in Playoff contention. He set the tone early, beginning what would have been the winning pass on teammate William Byron when the Daytona 500 ended under caution. And just last week, he took home 8th in the inaugural race at Iowa.

Rain once again cut short the pre-race activity at Loudon, where qualifying was cancelled, securing Bowman 5th on the starting grid. A brief practice session saw him rank 22nd of the of the 36 entrants. In his 12 previous Cup starts at Loudon, Bowman had only finished in the Top Ten – a 9th in 2021. Bowman also ran double-duty with the XFINITY Series, driving Hendrick Motorsports’ #17 entry for the first time since last summer at Watkins Glen. After rain also forced him to start 37th, he climbed to 9th at the checkered flag.

For Sunday, securing the 36th and final starting spot was Ty Dillon, back in Kaulig Racing’s #16 for the first time since a 16th-place finish in Texas, and this time with new sponsorship from online auto dealer Car Bravo. With no drivers sent to the rear for pre-race penalties, both Dillon and 35th-place starter Kaz Grala in the #15 Meat ‘n Bone Ford engaged in a tight last-place battle. Similar to Iowa, the margins were down to mere hundredths of a second. At the end of Lap 1, Dillon was ahead of Grala by just 0.023 second. Grala inched ahead of Dillon on Lap 3 by just 0.021. Lap 4 saw Grala in last again by 0.028, then 0.017 on Lap 6 before Dillon opened up a 0.112 gap on Lap 8. The next time by, Grala then caught Dillon again, the pair 0.024 apart, then 0.052 on Lap 10, but Dillon inched away on Lap 11 with a 0.157. From there, Dillon grew the gap to 0.315 on Lap 15, but just two laps later, Grala had caught and passed him, then pulled ahead by a full two-tenths. Once again, Dillon was on the attack, cutting the gap to 0.121 on Lap 18, then on Lap 20 pulled alongside by 0.088. Dillon then slipped, dropping him a half-second behind Grala on Lap 21. Dillon then fell 0.545 behind by Lap 27, and on Lap 30 was the first to be lapped by the leaders.

Counting down the laps to the end of Stage 1, Dillon’s team told him his pace seemed fine, but the leaders were “just taking less distance to the five-eighths mark.” By then, Dillon radioed that he was too loose in the middle and too tight off. While still discussing changes for the upcoming stage caution, he then radioed “no grip on exit, it’s bouncing on the track.” The team encouraged him onward, saying his lap times were improving as he was rolling longer through the corner. He reached the end of Stage 1 on Lap 71, where under yellow the team planned to make air pressure and track bar adjustments. The crew lifted the hood and kept the right side jacked up for longer, but on Lap 74, he still climbed to 35th ahead of teammate Daniel Hemric in the #31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet. Dillon retook the spot on Lap 76, but reported his left-front wheel was loose, so he made a second stop. He was still a few car lengths from the tail end of the field when the race restarted on Lap 78.

On Lap 84, Daniel Suarez – who earned his United States dual citizenship earlier in the week – had dropped to 35th in his #99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet. Dillon set after him, leading to another tight battle for last place. On Lap 88, Dillon got to Surez’ outside into Turn 1, but Suarez held him off with a drive off the corner. On Lap 90, Dillon tried under Suarez off Turn 2 and this time drew alongside, but this time Suarez pulled low and drew alongside at the stripe. By Turn 3, Suarez moved up the track and completed the crossover move, keeping Dillon in last. Suarez then pulled away, and Dillon talked with his crew about what he needed to use 100% throttle on the straightaways.

Around Lap 106, Grala took over last place as he pitted early. Lap 110 saw then-leader Christopher Bell catch Dillon entering Turn 3, putting his now 35th-place car a second lap down. Grala then caught and passed Dillon on Lap 120, putting the #16 to last place once more, and the leaders now made their own round of green-flag stops. By Lap 127, the last spot fell to Zane Smith, whose #71 Focused Health Chevrolet had itself fallen two laps down, taking the spot from Dillon. The next caution fell on Lap 142 as Hemric spun off Turn 2, but he remained in 34th with Smith still last and John Hunter Nemechek now 35th in the #42 Family Dollar Toyota.

It was during Hemric’s caution that Alex Bowman suddenly entered the last-place battle. Still under yellow on Lap 144, Bowman’s car was shown trailing smoke from the right-side exhaust as he headed down the backstretch. He made it to pit road, where the white smoke grew into a larger cloud as the crew looked things over. The team sought a push truck, and on Lap 146 fell to two laps down in 31st. The crew had to give Bowman a push, which they did that time by, getting him behind the wall and over to their garage stall. As he took last place from Smith, Bowman’s crew unfastened the hood pins while the car was still rolling and lifted the hood. The crew worked quickly, but their pace soon slowed. By Lap 158, the car’s onboard cameras were shut off, and NASCAR declared him out on Lap 169.

Finishing 35th was Kyle Busch, who endured a miserable afternoon for a second-straight Loudon race. After starting 30th on the grid, he lost a lap in the early moments, backed into the Turn 2 wall on Lap 154, was spun down the backstretch by Corey LaJoie on Lap 216, then after the rain delay changed to wet tires, only to wreck under caution when he suffered a right-front issue in Turn 3. Taking 34th was Bubba Wallace, whose #23 DraftKings Toyota slammed head-on into the Turn 2 wall during a Lap 265 pileup that also involved 34th-place Austin Dillon in the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet. Dillon attempted to return to the race, only to trail smoke from a serious fender rub. Completing the group was Joey Logano, whose #22 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford battled in the Top Five before a Lap 194 tangle with Chase Elliott damaged his right-front, costing him three laps.

Strong runs both before and after the rain delay draw focus to smaller teams

When the race was red flagged for rain with 82 laps to go, several drivers were in position to earn impressive finishes if the race didn’t resume. At the time, Todd Gilliland ran 4th in his #38 Grillo’s Pickles Ford with teammate Michael McDowell running 6th in the #34 Long John Silver’s Ford. Justin Haley ran a strong 5th in Rick Ware Racing’s #51 Fraternal Order of Eagles Ford while Noah Gragson was 10th in the #10 Overstock.com Ford.

After the final laps were completed on wet weather tires, Gragson was involved in the same wreck with Bubba Wallace and Austin Dillon, dropping him to 27th at the finish. Gragson’s remaining three teammates at the soon-to-be-closing Stewart-Haas Racing walked away with great finishes. Chase Briscoe’s #14 Zep Ford finished 2nd after a door-to-door battle with Josh Berry in the #4 Miner Docks, Doors, and More Ford while Ryan Preece recovered from at least two incidents to take 11th in his #41 Mohawk Northeast Ford.

On Lap 293, McDowell spun in a Turn 2 incident with Ryan Blaney, which also caught the right-front of Haley’s #51. Haley continued to the finish, but suffered much worse damage in the incident than it first appeared, dropping him to 29th. McDowell held on to finish 15th, three spots behind Gilliland in 12th. Slipping past them in the closing moments were Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who finished 7th despite some damage on his #47 Kroger / Kleenex 100 Years Chevrolet, and an impressive John Hunter Nemechek, taking 8th, who bounced back from running as far back as 35th in the early stages. This was tied for Nemechek’s third-best Cup finish, and his first Top Ten since Bristol.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #48 in a Cup race at New Hampshire.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #48-Alex Bowman / 142 laps / engine

35) #8-Kyle Busch / 222 laps / crash

34) #23-Bubba Wallace / 265 laps / crash

33) #3-Austin Dillon / 268 laps / crash

32) #22-Joey Logano / 302 laps / running

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (3)

2nd) Kaulig Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (2)

3rd) Hendrick Motorsports, Legacy Motor Club, Motorsports Business Management, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet, Ford (7)

2nd) Toyota (3)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP