Three takeaways: Bowman emerges victorious, contrite in first of two Pocono races
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
LONG POND, Pa. — It was a dramatic last-lap pass for the win, but it wasn’t exactly the way Alex Bowman would have ever designed such a move, as he triumphed in the NASCAR Cup Series race on Saturday at Pocono Raceway.
Kyle Larson blew a tire – he believes he ran something over that cut the tire – while leading, ending his winning streak at three points races (four overall) and handing the victory to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate whom he had a spirited battle with over the final 30 laps.
"I can’t believe it," Larson said. "I hate that we didn’t get five in a row. It wasn’t meant to be, I guess, today. … We’ll try to start another streak tomorrow."
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Here are three takeaways from the first race of the doubleheader weekend at Pocono, where the Cup drivers return Sunday for a 350-mile race.
1. Bowman apologetic, then happy
Bowman took the lead on a restart with 19 laps to go and held on to it for 15 laps until Larson finally got by him. At the start of his final lap, Bowman apologized to his team for wearing out his tires too much trying to hold on to the lead.
His team told him to keep pushing and not to let Kyle Busch pass him for second. Good thing Bowman did, as he pedaled by Larson after Larson hit the wall with the flat.
"This is the strangest win I've ever been a part of," Bowman said. "I thought I was running second, which was still going to be a good day for us with how we struggled throughout the course of the day.
"Then he blows a tire, we win [and I] can't do a burnout because I have to race the car tomorrow. I typically stand on the roof of the car; I can't do that because I got to race the car tomorrow. I typically drink all the beers; I can't do all that because I got to race a car tomorrow."
Bowman is known to readily wear his emotions on his sleeve. And that’s OK with his team.
"If he was sorry coming off of the [second] turn that he didn't make adjustments in the car to hold off Kyle, then that's fine," crew chief Greg Ives said. "But we have to definitely learn from it because we could be in that situation tomorrow.
"Come down to five [laps] to go, I hope he's thinking and understanding what he needs to adjust to not only hold off Kyle but another faster car maybe with better tires, maybe even handling a little bit better."
2. Larson handles it well
One of the attributes of Larson is that he never seems to get too excited nor all that down. So it was no surprise that he had some quips after he saw the win slip away.
Was it easier to take considering he had won four events (three points races and the all-star race) in a row?
"I guess it’s better than four DNFs in a row and then another one," said Larson, using the abbreviation for a race where a driver does not finish. "It’s a bummer. At least we showed everybody that we were going to win another one and just some bad luck took it from us."
Is he angry?
"You want me to be angry?" he said. "Obviously I’m disappointed. I wanted to get five wins in a row. But there’s nothing you can do about it now."
How does he feel having to drop to the rear at the start, meaning he will start around 30-32nd Sunday instead of 20th if he won.
"I’m only five [rows] worse than I would have been," he said.
3. Learning for Sunday
Drivers learned that lane choice could be key for a late-race restart. On that final restart, Bowman was fourth in line and the first three cars chose the outside, typically the preferred lane at Pocono.
Bowman, in fourth, chose the front row on the inside and got a great push from Ryan Blaney to take the lead.
"We were fourth [and] somebody could have restarted second, and instead they restarted fourth and sixth," Bowman said. "I was pretty surprised nobody took the bottom."
Then again, Larson, second in line and choosing the outside lane to restart fourth overall, felt he made the best move.
"It worked out – I got the lead [eventually]," Larson said. "Had the tire stayed up, I would have probably felt like I made the right decision, which I still think I did."
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass.
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