CONCORD, N.C. -- Alex Bowman sat down with crew chief Greg Ives to chat about his sixth-place finish at the first eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Event on Sunday, which took place at a virtual Homestead track.
Ives was honed in on analyzing the race, even though he didn't call the event for Bowman. Instead, the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE shared crew chief Chad Knaus and spotter Earl Bardan with fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson.
Bowman admitted that might have been confusing, since Johnson thought a caution was out in the middle of the race when it wasn't, which resulted in a massive accident.
"I think we would have run better if you were the crew chief," Bowman told Ives. "At the same time, getting to work with a legend like Chad Knaus and an awesome spotter like Earl Barban -- just cool as a freaking cucumber on the roof. It was a hell of a time."
Much like a race at the actual Miami track, Ives and Bowman both noted that strategy was key in preserving tires, especially the front-right tire.
"I got a lot of flack on Twitter for coming down and putting tires on you, but I think that was ultimately the right call," Ives said. "You gave up, I think, three spots, but we came back and had a better finish. Tires won the race, right?"
Bowman agreed, adding that once he settled in and stopped trying to play the field so aggressively, things fell into place.
"I just burned it off a little bit making those passes on the right outside. You chew up (the) right front so bad," he said. "The cars were so tight, that setup was so tight. Probably cranked a little too much wheel on her. I had a lot of rear brake and I was trying to drag the brake to help with the turn, but at a certain point it just stops helping and (you) kind of burn the right front off a little bit."
Perhaps the biggest star of the race was Bowman's dog Finn, who took over for the No. 88 driver while he took a bathroom break.
Ives teased Bowman that Finn was going to let his fame go to his head, and Bowman agreed that Finn now has a big ego from the exposure.
He noted Finn was disappointed in teammate William Byron, who hit the No. 88 machine and caused them both to reset.
"I feel like Finn really thought William was going to be a good teammate and push us past the next couple of guys. Instead he just turned us into the fence in front of the whole field," Bowman joked. "Sometimes teammates don’t drive each other the correct way. It’s really unfortunate that he thought it was necessary to do that."