CONCORD, N.C. -- Alex Bowman earned his first iRacing victory of the season at the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series at Talladega Sunday afternoon.
At one point Bowman was a lap down and fighting for a decent finishing position after he decided to pit. That strategy paid off and Bowman thundered into the top five with a few laps left in the race.
A caution with three laps left in the race allowed the field to collect itself and Bowman was battling for the top position over the final eight laps. However, he was able to keep the lead by half a car length and earn his first iRacing win.
“I felt like the bottom wasn't the place to be, so I kind of let Ty (Dillon) have the bottom on that restart and got up, and just tried to keep the run timed well and knew that most of the time the top was leading there at the start‑finish line,” Bowman said after the race.
His victory marks the third iRacing event in a row won by a Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Jeff Gordon made his iRacing debut Sunday to raise money for his charity, the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation. For every lap Gordon raced, $24 was donated to the organization to help combat pediatric cancer.
Despite racing in his Axalta/Pepsi scheme that earned him a victory at Talladega in 2004, Gordon finished 38th.
William Byron finished in the top 10 in sixth, while Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson crossed the finish line in 28th and 32nd, respectively.
Below is a closer look at how Sunday’s iRacing event unfolded for the Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 MOUNTAIN DEW/LITTLE CAESARS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 28th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Starting off the grid in 34th, Elliott soon was in 25th trying to move beyond the middle of the pack. He was able to break into the top 10 in 10th.
- On lap 16 Elliott was involved in an incident that slowed him down. When the green flag fell he was in 29th.
- Soon he was in 22nd and was trying to find a way to break into the top 20. More than halfway through the race Elliot was in 16th.
- Elliott was riding in the middle of the field when he was part of the second incident that pushed teammate Jeff Gordon off the track.
- Elliott didn’t need to use a reset and was in 28th for the restart. He was in 29th with two laps left when the third caution came out. Elliott maintained his position and finished 28th.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 6th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Byron started at the back of the pack due to a new iRacing measure that has had the top three finishers from the previous week start in the last spots. Byron was steady in 36th by the third lap and had gained six spots by lap 16.
- After the first caution was lifted, Byron was in 12th since he was able to bypass the accident. By lap 24 he was in sixth place.
- In lap 26 Byron was battling for the top spot and hovered in second place, but soon took over first place after the lead cars slid off the track.
- He fell to second with 33 laps to go and was riding the first-place driver’s tail. With less than 20 laps to go, he decided to head to pit road.
- Patience and strategy saw Byron move back up to second place, which he maintained after the second caution came out. He fell to third when the field went green again, then slid 14th with six to go.
- He was ninth with two laps left when the third caution came out. In the final lap he had moved up to seventh and crossed the finish line a spot up in sixth.
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA/PEPSI CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 38th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Making his iRacing debut, Gordon started in the middle of the pack and was in 23rd three laps in. Ten laps later he was all the way in the top 10 in sixth place, ahead of all his Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
- An accident caused Gordon to lose control and head to pit road to use his reset. That sent him to the back of the pack in 36th.
- By lap 30 he had worked his way back up to 24th and halfway through the race he was up to 20th. However, Gordon said not having a spotter is why he lost his draft and slid back to 28th.
- He was up to 20th when he decided to pit before lap 54, but had a penalty coming into pit road. Shortly after leaving pit road he was clipped and had an accident with teammate Chase Elliott.
- Gordon was unable to get back on the lead lap and had to back to pit road to get repairs. He finished 38th.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 32nd
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Johnson started in 25th and quickly jumped to 18th by the third lap. He worked his way up the leaderboard and at one point was 13th, but by lap 14 he was settled in 15th.
- However, the first caution of the race collected Johnson and he was slowed down. When the field was given the restart Johnson was outside the top 10 in 11th.
- By lap 26 he was in 13th and broke into the top 10 in ninth after two cars in front of him slid off the track. However, Johnson lost control and slid off into the infield. He didn’t need to use his reset and was able to hop back on the track in 31st.
- With less than 20 laps left Johnson decided to pit. He avoided the second incident of the race and was in 25th with 10 laps to go.
- With three laps to go and another caution, Johnson was in 22nd. He crossed the finish line in 32nd after another accident slowed him down.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NOCO/CHEVY GOODS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 1st
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Bowman rolled off the grid in 22nd and by lap 12 he was in the top 10 in eighth. By lap 15 he had slid down to 14th.
- The massive incident that collected three of his teammates affected Bowman, but he maintained his spot at 12th. He was back in the top 10 when the green flag waived in lap 21, one spot behind teammate William Byron in ninth.
- He broke into the top five with Byron and was battling for fourth place while the field was two wide. By lap 29 Bowman was in second place behind Byron.
- He decided to pit with 33 laps left to get fuel, but that resulted in him being down a lap. He moved up the field and with 11 laps to go he was in 12th after the second caution of the race.
- He surged to third with six laps to go and jumped to second one lap later. The third caution with a couple laps left saw Bowman move up to his first lead of the race.
- He battled for the lead through the final lap, but was able to hold on and secure his first iRacing win.