Yahoo Finance After Shocking Exits for Race Favorites, Alex Bowman Wins Shortened Chicago Street Race
NASCAR was forced to shorten the race as rain plagued the street circuit for the second year with no rainout date negotiated.
Bowman entered the NASCAR race weekend sitting at the cut line for the playoffs. With his surprising win in the Chicago Street Race, he has secured his spot in the NASCAR Playoffs.
Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson, the two heavy favorites, crashed out in separate incidents finishing in the bottom two positions.
With 58 of 75 laps completed before the early finish Sunday evening, Alex Bowman locked the No. 48 Hendrick Camaro into the NASCAR Playoffs with an unexpected road course win to end his 80-race winless street in the Grant Park 165.
Rain continues to be the No. 1 public enemy for NASCAR street racing; for the second year in a row, the race was shortened as heavy rain pushed the finish too late in the evening to race without lights with no rainout date negotiated with the city municipality.
On the restart on lap 25, two separate incidents, the first involving Bowman, Daniel Suarez, and Bubba Wallace and the second when Chase Briscoe junked Shane van Gisbergen, led NASCAR to bring out the red flag as heavy rain bombarded the track for 90 minutes.
Van Gisbergen was the clear favorite to win, but a small hit, while they were rapidly losing the track, was enough to end New Zealand's chance of going back-to-back on the weekend and defending his inaugural win.
When the race resumed, Kyle Larson, who finished second to van Gisbergen in Saturday's Xfinity race, was the presumed favorite before he over-braked into turn six, sending his No. 5 Hendrick Camaro deep into the tire barrier.
KYLE LARSON IS BURIED DEEP IN THE TIRE BARRIER. 😳
📺: #NASCAR | NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/iCr8Hxcf3I— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 8, 2024
Last year, Bowman broke his back in a Sprint Car race and missed several races. His finishes have been subpar ever since.
Bowman's win fell 854 days since his last win at Las Vegas in the spring of 2022, completing the Sunday trifecta of winless streaks being broken in F1, Indycar, and NASCAR. Lewis Hamilton won his record-setting ninth win at Silverstone to close a 945-day streak; Pato O'Ward won on the track at Mid-Ohio to end his 714-day streak.
After crossing the finish line Bowman was found by Wallace, still unhappy that his race was ruined by Bowman in their lap 25 tangle. Bowman admits to his mistake before taking the time to celebrate his win.
"I have to apologize again to the No. 23 guys," Bowman told NASCAR on NBC before celebrating his win. "I messed up and, while trying to get my windshield wiper on, missed a corner and ruined their day. I hate that, I'm still embarrassed about it, but we have a trophy to take home."
Bowman would go on to drop an instant classic when talking about celebrating his first win in over two years.
"The last one we won, we weren't really able to celebrate," Bowman said. "We're going to drink so much damn bourbon tonight. It's going to be a bad deal; I'm probably going to wake up naked on the bathroom floor again. That's just part of this deal sometimes."
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