LONG POND, Pa. – Entering last weekend at Pocono Raceway, Alex Bowman was confident that the No. 88 team – and Hendrick Motorsports as a whole – would have a shot to put together a great race.
“We kind of had Pocono circled as a place that we thought we had pretty good race cars,” the driver said. “We knew we were going to be pretty strong here.”
He pointed to the June Pocono race, when both Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson took home top-10 finishes. William Byron was running near the top 10 with fewer than 10 laps remaining in the race, and Bowman had finished Stage 2 inside the top 10 before an incident caused him to make contact with the wall.
That’s why when qualifying got underway this time around, Bowman was disappointed with the No. 88 team’s effort.
“We were kind of shocked we were as bad as we were on Saturday,” he said of a 20th-place qualifying result.
But when several competitors had their times disallowed following post-qualifying inspection, Bowman ended up with a 10th-place starting position for Sunday’s race.
The No. 88 team took advantage.
“(No. 88 team crew chief) Greg (Ives) made the car better all race long,” Bowman explained. “It really drove about how it drove all weekend. It really didn't drive that much differently. We just got little bits better and were really able to maximize track position with our pit crew and our restarts.”
Those restarts, Bowman said, were key throughout the race as he battled to take the checkered flag in third place – the best finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
He was joined inside the top 10 by William Byron – who also captured a NASCAR Cup Series career-best finish of sixth – and Chase Elliott, who finished seventh. Jimmie Johnson was running inside the top 10 with just three laps remaining before he was shuffled back in traffic and headed to pit road prior to the start of overtime, where he finished 17th.
“All the hard work for the guys back at the shop, the engine shop, the chassis shop, body shop, the whole road crew, days like today make it worth it,” Bowman said. “When you start the year off like we have, we have asked a lot of people to step up and work that much harder every week, and good runs like this kind of make it worth it for them. So, obviously a win would be much better, but to have all four of us have pretty solid days, it hopefully shows them that all their hard work is worth it because we've come a long way from where we started.”
Following an 11th-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Bowman sat 28 points ahead of the 17th-place competitor, which would be the first driver on the outside looking in when the playoffs begin.
After his third-place finish at Pocono, Bowman is still 16th in the playoff standings as the last driver who would make the postseason on points – but his lead over 17th now sits at 56 points.
“Obviously, it was a great points day for us, but on top of that, it’s proof that we’re improving each and every week and continually getting better,” the driver said. “It was great to have a good points day, but not trying to watch it too much, just trying to do the best job I can and that we can each and every week. If we maximize each and every week, hopefully they won't catch us in points, and we'll go from there.”
Asked how he felt about the career-best finish, Bowman said he didn’t have a big celebration planned.
“I'm ready to get some food, maybe take a nap, go home, see my dogs tonight – they don't really care where I finish,” he joked. “No, I mean, it's a great day. For me it's more about my guys and the guys back at the shop. They work so hard.”
The career day was made even more special by the fact that he drove a special Philadelphia Eagles-themed No. 88 Axalta All-Pro Teachers Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Pennsylvania race.
“It was a great day for us,” Bowman said. “It proves to us and everybody else that we are getting better.”