CONCORD, N.C. -- Alex Bowman and his crew made the decision to pit with just a couple of laps left in the race at Las Vegas.
The driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camero ZL1 1LE was in second place when a yellow flag was dropped during the final laps. Bowman said it was a quick judgement call to pit and that he had no reason to question it, even though it resulted in him finishing 13th.
“Who knows?" Bowman said on how the race would have shaken out if he hadn't pitted. "It’s easy to say we should have stayed out, we would have won. Yeah, we probably would have, but if the 12 (Ryan Blaney) would have stayed out, he could have won, too. It’s just one of those deals that can go either way.
"Having to make those calls from on top of the pit box is a tough call to make. I was all on board; I thought we were making the right one."
Bowman sped back on the track in 14th place, but when the final caution came out, he was unable to get back up to his previous position. Crew chief Greg Ives later tweeted that he was "frustrated" with himself over that decision.
Bowman later reassured his crew chief that he is proud of him and is proud of the entire crew.
“We had such a good car there at the end. Obviously, running down the 12 (Ryan Blaney) pretty quickly. At least looking at a second-place finish, if not, battling for a win there. Our car was so good. The caution came out and we read it just a little bit wrong," Bowman said. "Bummer that we didn’t get the finish that we probably deserved. But at the same time, I’m so proud of my guys. We had such a good race car today. We made it better all day. Obviously, we had it rolling there at the end."
Bowman added that he was proud of his crew and that the adjustments they made were perfect for the track, but that he and the crew read the final caution and its implications "a little wrong."
However, he said he's really pleased with how his car ran and said he's happy to see the off-season adjustments to the car working.
“It sucks to at least be looking at second, probably a win with as fast as we were. That’s a big bummer, but at the same time, I’ll take that over running 14th all day. I’m just really positive on the new Camaro and obviously Greg, as usual, made some really good changes from on top of the pit box. I’m appreciative of all the guys. We had really good pit stops, it just didn’t work out for us.”