{"id":37338,"date":"2022-03-06T21:57:07","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T03:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=37338"},"modified":"2022-03-06T21:57:07","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T03:57:07","slug":"alex-bowman-wins-at-las-vegas-following-two-tire-gamble-and-thrilling-overtime-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/06\/alex-bowman-wins-at-las-vegas-following-two-tire-gamble-and-thrilling-overtime-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Bowman wins at Las Vegas following two-tire gamble and thrilling overtime charge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 06, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Holly Cain<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service <\/em><\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS – Alex Bowman won in a dramatic overtime ending in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday \u2013 gambling on a two-tire final pit stop for his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and holding off the field in a two-lap sprint to decide the NASCAR Cup Series race.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 06, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Dylan Buell\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson made up the front row on the restart \u2013 the pair along with teammate William Byron took two tires on the final pit stop while Kyle Busch, who had led 40 of the previous 45 laps opted to get four tires and start just behind on the second row.<\/p>\n

The two-tire stop, however, proved to be enough with Busch unable to even make a pass attempt as the Hendrick cars decided the trophy. The Tucson-native Bowman, 28, crossed the line .178-seconds ahead of the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson to earn his first trophy of 2022 and seventh of his career.  It was Bowman\u2019s first Top-20 finish after a frustrating start to the three-race old season.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 06, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis thing was so fast all day,\u2019\u2019 said Bowman, who led 16 of the 274 laps. \u201cJust never really had the track position to show it. But man, what a call by [crew chief] Greg Ives and the guys to take two [tires] there and obviously it paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacing Kyle [Larson] is always fun and I\u2019ve got to race him for a couple wins and we always race each other super clean and super respectively. Just can\u2019t say enough about these guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a pretty awful start to the year so to come out here and get a win on a last re-start, I feel like that\u2019s pretty special.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The runner-up finish for Larson, who led three times for 37 laps on the day, was good enough to propel him into the championship lead for the first time this season. He holds a six-point advantage over Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Martin Truex Jr., who finished eighth on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, and Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Pennzoil Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 06, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Dylan Buell\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Ross Chastain, who led a race-best 83 laps and scored the two-year-old team\u2019s first Stage victory, finished third. The Las Vegas native Busch was fourth and a third Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron rounded out the Top Five.<\/p>\n

Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Aric Almirola earned his third consecutive Top-10 with a sixth place finish. Tyler Reddick, Truex, Hendrick\u2019s Chase Elliott and polesitter, Christopher Bell completed the Top 10.<\/p>\n

For most of the race\u2019s final laps, it looked like Busch would claim his first NASCAR Cup Series trophy at his \u201chome track\u201d since 2009. It\u2019s been 46 series wins since that triumph.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 ACM Awards Chevrolet, and Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Ethel M Chocolates Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 06, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

And Busch\u2019s work in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on Sunday was especially impressive considering he crashed in opening practice on Saturday and was forced to use a back-up car originally sent to the track for spare parts. The car wasn\u2019t prepared in time for qualifying so Busch started last in the race.<\/p>\n

His rally for a near-win was enthusiastically appreciated by the home crowd even if the ultimate Top Five was still a bit disappointing for the former two-time series champion considering his time out front (49 laps) in the closing laps.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody really had a hand in making us go today, really appreciate that,\u2019\u2019 Busch said, acknowledging crew members from all four JGR cars frantically worked to get his car race ready.<\/p>\n

\"\"

A general view of race during the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 06, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Dylan Buell\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt was good, fast at the end and tried to do what I could there to hold the lead with Truex. Felt like I inched away finally and we were coming to the white [flag] but it wasn\u2019t meant to be. Not our day. See you next week.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The race featuring the 1.5-mile debut of the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen cars produced 23 lead changes among 15 different drivers with Bowman (Stage 1) and Chastain (Stage 2) winning the stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were like 30th in first practice, right off the truck and we slowly built up to it and if we can keep doing that and have cars like this, obviously we can compete,\u2019\u2019 Chastain said.<\/p>\n

The NASCAR Cup Series next stop is Phoenix Raceway for the Ruoff Mortgage 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) next Sunday afternoon. Truex is the defending race winner.<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

NCS Winning Driver Alex Bowman (No. 48 Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports); Crew Chief Greg Ives; and Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon – <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pennzoil 400 Grand Marshall Marcus Allen – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MarcusAllenLVMS.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wendell Scott Family Members Frank Scott and Warrick Scott and Artist Larry Stiles – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ScottFamily.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pennzoil Award presented to Las Vegas Motor Speedway by Council for Responsible Sports<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/PennzoilTrackPresser.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race – 25th Annual Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube<\/b><\/p>\n

Las Vegas Motor Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Las Vegas, Nevada<\/b><\/p>\n

Sunday, March 6, 2022<\/b><\/p>\n

                    1. (13)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    2. (2)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    3. (18)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    4. (37)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 274.<\/p>\n

                    5. (14)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    6. (20)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 274.<\/p>\n

                    7. (7)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    8. (12)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 274.<\/p>\n

                    9. (5)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    10. (1)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 274.<\/p>\n

                    11. (10)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    12. (25)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 274.<\/p>\n

                    13. (31)  Kurt Busch, Toyota, 274.<\/p>\n

                    14. (6)  Joey Logano, Ford, 274.<\/p>\n

                    15. (29)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                   16. (19)  Harrison Burton #, Ford, 274.<\/p>\n

                    17. (28)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    18. (27)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 274.<\/p>\n

                    19. (3)  Austin Cindric #, Ford, 274.<\/p>\n

                    20. (32)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    21. (9)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    22. (16)  Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, 274.<\/p>\n

                    23. (30)  Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 274.<\/p>\n

                    24. (15)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 273.<\/p>\n

                    25. (17)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 273.<\/p>\n

                    26. (33)  Cody Ware, Ford, 273.<\/p>\n

                    27. (22)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 273.<\/p>\n

                    28. (35)  BJ McLeod, Ford, 272.<\/p>\n

                    29. (34)  Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 271.<\/p>\n

                    30. (36)  Garrett Smithley, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    31. (23)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 264.<\/p>\n

                    32. (8)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Drivetrain, 219.<\/p>\n

                    33. (24)  Cole Custer, Ford, Engine, 171.<\/p>\n

                    34. (26)  Greg Biffle, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 148.<\/p>\n

                    35. (4)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, Accident, 135.<\/p>\n

                    36. (11)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 104.<\/p>\n

                    37. (21)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 92.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  117.522 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 29 Mins, 50 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .178 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  12 for 60 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  23 among 15 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Bell 1-32;R. Blaney 33-42;A. Bowman 43-49;D. Hamlin 50-65;K. Busch 66-69;W. Byron 70-77;A. Bowman 78-83;M. McDowell 84-87;B. Keselowski 88-90;D. Hamlin 91-105;K. Busch 106-112;R. Chastain 113-136;*. Biffle 137;K. Larson 138-159;R. Chastain 160-217;K. Larson 218;R. Stenhouse Jr. 219-222;T. Dillon 223;K. Busch 224-225;R. Chastain 226;K. Busch 227-266;M. Truex Jr. 267;K. Larson 268-271;A. Bowman 272-274.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ross Chastain 3 times for 83 laps; Kyle Busch 3 times for 49 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 32 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 31 laps; Kyle Larson 3 times for 27 laps; Alex Bowman 3 times for 16 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 10 laps; William Byron 1 time for 8 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 4 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 4 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 4 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 3 laps; Ty Dillon 1 time for 1 lap; * Greg Biffle 1 time for 1 lap; Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 48,24,1,11,9,5,12,14,18,20<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 1,9,5,24,18,19,22,4,11,23<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service  LAS VEGAS – Alex Bowman won in a dramatic overtime ending in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday \u2013 gambling on a two-tire final pit stop for his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and holding off the field in a two-lap sprint to decide the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":37356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[491,67,16],"class_list":["post-37338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-alex-bowman","tag-las-vegas-motor-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1381860713-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1725&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-9Ie","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37338"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37360,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37338\/revisions\/37360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}