NASCAR Cup Series star Alex Bowman has admitted a sense of relief after this weekend's race at Talladega.
The Hendrick Motorsports star, admitted after his third place finish at the messy superspeedway race that he was grateful to have made it through without taking any major hits, semi-joking that he's only got so many wrecks left in him.
Bowman, who appears to be comprehensively out of the playoff picture after his health issues earlier in the year (146 points back from the cut), secured his best finish of the year with his surprisingly clean run at Talladega, after the Big One caught up two thirds of the field midway through the second stage.
While this season has been a tricky one for him, Bowman took the positives from the day in Alabama, praising his car and team while congratulating first-time Cup Series winner Carson Hocevar – and warning the town about the celebrations that might hit it.
NASCAR TODAY: Hamlin's verdict on shock exit and Cup Series driver hit with Talladega DNQ
Hendrick's Alex Bowman 'happy' for Hocevar win
Speaking on pit road after the race, Bowman said: "Yeah, I mean, honestly, to be blunt, it just feels good to get out here without crashing. I’m getting old, don’t have much of that left in me. Glad to get out of here clean.
"We had a great Ally 48 Chevy all day. Felt like we played the race the best we could kind of with the situations we were given.
"Had a good day on pit road. Hendrick engine shop did a great job. Glad to get a Chevrolet in Victory Lane there with the No. 77. Happy for him. He deserves it, for sure. A perfect place for him to get his first one.
"The Boulevard, did they leave that open tonight? It might burn down with that going on. Yeah, just a good day for us. Excited to turn things around a little bit. Hopefully we can keep that going next week."
NASCAR Cup Series points standings after Talladega
| Pos | Driver | Manufacturer | Points (Stage) | Wins | Top 5s | Top 10s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyler Reddick | Toyota | 484 (78) | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 374 (83) | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 344 (87) | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 340 (48) | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 322 (59) | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 6 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 315 (91) | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 309 (58) | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | Carson Hocevar | Chevrolet | 292 (42) | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | Christopher Bell | Toyota | 290 (73) | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 279 (42) | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 11 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 277 (55) | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 12 | Bubba Wallace | Toyota | 276 (71) | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 13 | Ryan Preece | Ford | 269 (37) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | Daniel Suárez | Chevrolet | 235 (26) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | Joey Logano | Ford | 234 (54) | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 16 | Austin Cindric | Ford | 226 (49) | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | Chase Briscoe | Toyota | 222 (32) | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 18 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 205 (22) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 19 | Shane van Gisbergen | Chevrolet | 195 (24) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 | Zane Smith | Ford | 183 (11) | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 21 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 183 (15) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Todd Gilliland | Ford | 181 (19) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 179 (19) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 24 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 163 (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Chevrolet | 161 (11) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 26 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 161 (0) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 27 | Kyle Busch | Chevrolet | 160 (11) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 | Josh Berry | Ford | 147 (30) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 | Riley Herbst | Toyota | 144 (9) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Noah Gragson | Ford | 144 (4) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 | John H. Nemechek | Toyota | 141 (14) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 123 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Connor Zilisch | Chevrolet | 103 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Cole Custer | Chevrolet | 89 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Cody Ware | Chevrolet | 85 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 80 (10) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 37 | Casey Mears | Ford | 9 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | BJ McLeod | Chevrolet | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
NASCAR TODAY: Hamlin's verdict on shock exit and Cup Series driver hit with Talladega DNQ
