CUP: Chain-reaction pileup on the backstretch puts Alex Bowman in the wall for Duel Race 2

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

PHOTO: Joel Bray

Alex Bowman finished last in Thursday’s Duel Race 2 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #48 Ally Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident after 47 of 60 laps.

Last year, Bowman silenced his doubters by scoring an impressive win at the Chicago Street Course, ending a more than two-year losing streak in Hendrick Motorsports’ stout #48 entry. He went on to finish 9th in the overall standings, eliminated from the Playoffs in brutal fashion after a disqualification from the cutoff race at the Charlotte “Roval.” Such was the end of a season that began with a similar game of inches in the Daytona 500, where Bowman was door-to-door with teammate William Byron as the race-ending caution fell just short of the finish line. Such a battle, where Byron was declared the winner, would ultimately decide Duel Race 2 itself.

After a 19th-place finish in the 200-lap exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium earlier this month, Bowman looked for another strong run in qualifying for the Daytona 500, where he qualified on the front row for six straight years from 2018 through 2023. He began the Daytona weekend 20th in opening practice, then ran 12th-fastest in qualifying with a lap of 49.506 seconds – two-thousandths of a second short of making Round 2 and just one-thousandth slower than Duel Race 1 last-place finisher Zane Smith – at 181.796mph. This placed Bowman 6th on the grid for Duel Race 2.

Rounding out the field of 22 cars was Cody Ware, whose #51 Parts Plus / Jacob Construction Ford joined his Rick Ware Racing teammate Corey LaJoie, lined up 17th in the #01 Take 5 Oil Change / DuraMax Ford. LaJoie faced a tough group of “open” entries, including 20th-place Anthony Alfredo in Beard Motorsports’ #62 Fortify Building Solutions Chevrolet and 21st-place B.J. McLeod in Live Fast Motorsports’ #78 HitchGo Chevrolet. While the rest of the field didn’t suffer the same mechanical issue as Elliott, Preece, and Chastain did in Race 2, Christopher Bell surrendered the 4th spot on the grid for an unapproved power steering pump change on his #20 DeWalt / Interstate Batteries Toyota.

By Lap 2, Bell had already climbed through the ranks, dropping to last place John Hunter Nemechek in the #42 Dollar Tree Toyota, 1.150 seconds back of the lead. Nemechek, who reported concerns with his engine, still pulled ahead of McLeod on Lap 4, and the two were door-to-door on Lap 5. McLeod’s team discussed how well their car ran in traffic, but the driver hoped to tighten the car up a little as it was running free. He remained in last until Lap 17, when he again moved ahead of Nemechek, then took the spot again on Lap 19.

Still under green, Lap 25 saw the 22nd spot fall to Noah Gragson in Front Row Motorsports’ #4 Rush Truck Centers Ford. McLeod retook the spot on Lap 26, then Gragson again on Lap 28. McLeod still hoped for adjustments, but knew that would be unlikely to get them if the race stayed green. McLeod fell to last again on Lap 31, and was still there on Lap 35, when Jimmie Johnson pitted his #84 Carvana Toyota. Johnson did so by himself for fuel only, dropping 26.326 seconds back of the lead, then 42.379 back on Lap 37. By Lap 39, the leaders quickly caught and lapped him on the backstretch, to which the team said, “We’re gonna stay in the back if you don’t mind.” There wasn’t much to race for anyway as Johnson had locked himself into the Daytona 500 field on speed.

The leaders then pitted around Lap 44, during which Johnson got his lap back. Several of the frontrunners incurred pit road speeding penalties, including Kyle Larson, whose #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet took the spot after his pass-through on Lap 48. The next time by, as race leader Chris Buescher snaked through traffic on the backstretch, a line of four cars in the high line stacked up. At the head of the line was Daniel Suarez’ #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, which hooked left into Brad Keselowski’s #6 Kroger / Cottonelle Ford. Bowman, running behind Suarez, was turned sideways by a fast-closing Shane Van Gisbergen in the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet. While Keselowski and Suarez made it to pit road trailing sparks, Bowman slid into the infield wall, which he struck with the right-front. The impact damaged Bowman’s steering enough that all his car could do donuts in runoff area. The tow truck crew failed to engage the car’s on-board lifter and instead dragged his Chevrolet back to the garage.

Bowman will start 38th in Sunday’s Daytona 500, to the outside of Duel 1 last-place finisher Zane Smith.

Suarez joined Bowman followed by Keselowski, whose right-front wheel was locked sideways by the impact. Johnson and Gragson made it to the finish to complete the Bottom Five. Each avoided involvement in the multi-car pileup whose caution muddled a photo finish between Austin Cindric and Erik Jones. LaJoie finished 6th to lock himself into the 500 field. Bowman will start 38th in Sunday’s 500, alongside Duel 1 last-place finisher Zane Smith.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*The only other time the #48 car finished last in one of the Duel races at Daytona was on February 14, 2002, when that year’s polesitter, then-rookie Jimmie Johnson, lost a lap in his #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet after he was black-flagged for passing below the yellow line, then pulled of the track with nine laps to go due to ignition issues.

*Both Bowman and Zane Smith in Race 1 started 6th in their respective Duel races. This marked the first time that both last-place finishers of the Duel race started in the same position since 2020, when Daniel Suarez in Race 1 and J.J. Yeley in Race 2 both rolled off in 19th.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

22) #48-Alex Bowman / 47 laps / crash

21) #99-Daniel Suarez / 47 laps / crash

20) #6-Brad Keselowski / 48 laps / crash

19) #84-Jimmie Johnson / 60 laps / running

18) #4-Noah Gragson / 60 laps / running