LONG POND, Pa. – Alex Bowman left Pocono Raceway with palpable momentum while teammate Chase Elliott took over the NASCAR Cup Series points lead.
Coming off his win in the Chicago Street Race that clinched a playoff spot, Bowman drove his No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a third-place finish Sunday.
It was Bowman’s sixth top-five finish and 12th top-10 of the year. Although not completely satisfied with the result at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle,” he was pleased with the recent performance of his Ally Racing team.
“We’re pointed in the right direction,” he said after the race.
Bowman was joined in the top five by teammate William Byron. It was a strong day for the Charlotte, North Carolina, native, who finished fourth in stage one, stage two and at the checkered flag.
“This was definitely a really good result,” Byron said. “We just executed through the race. For the most part we did a good job with the circumstances and the restarts and everything. Really proud of the effort. Our team did a great job.”
Finishing ninth, Chase Elliott rebounded from a speeding penalty to notch his 10th top-10 performance of the season and his third in a row at Pocono. He also had a strong points day, coming in fifth in the first stage and second in stage two.
Elliott narrowly took over the regular season points lead from Kyle Larson, who rounded out the Hendrick Motorsports stable with a 13th-place result at Pocono. The teammates are separated by just three points going into next week's Brickyard 400.
The NASCAR Cup Series visits the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 21, at 2:30 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live by NBC, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.