Enduring wet conditions and a chaotic finish in the rain-shortened Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course, Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 team prevailed to claim their first win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
· The victory – Bowman’s eighth career victory in NASCAR’s top division and his first on a road course – delivered Hendrick Motorsports its eighth victory of the season, while also securing all four of the Chevrolet organization’s drivers into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
· Bowman’s victory – Chevrolet’s ninth victory in 20 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races this season – keeps the Bowtie brand undefeated in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Chicago Street Course.
· Chevrolet swept the weekend in NASCAR’s second appearance at the Chicago Street Course, with Kaulig Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen scoring the victory in yesterday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
· The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Pocono Raceway with the Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com on Sunday, July 14, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10:
POS. DRIVER
1st Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
6th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Mariano’s / Colgate Optic White Camaro ZL1
8th William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL1
9th Kye Busch, No. 8 Zone Camaro ZL1
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
Finished: 1st
Alex, congratulations. You got the first win for your crew chief. How did you pull this win off today?
“Oh gosh, Blake’s (Harris) call, I never would have thought rain tires in the dry like that would have worked. So, just so proud of this No. 48 Ally Chevy team. I mean I made a big mistake earlier and tore the whole left-front off the car and ruined other people’s day. Just unacceptable and a mistake on my end. I have had a lot of screw ups lately and just happy to be here and get another trophy for these guys.”
Hendrick Motorsports now has all four teams in the Playoffs. What does it mean to lock yourselves in and focus going forward now?
“Yeah, it’s been rough to be a part of this race team. We all see the things that get said, whether it’s media people second guessing or the internet second guessing us. I feel like between Blake and I, we have everybody covered at second guessing us. So, to win it on a call that was Blake’s call and to be able to go win it on wets, it means a lot. So thankful for this group and to continue to overcome stuff like that. It’s hard to go to work every day when you get talked about like that sometimes. So, I am proud of these guys for overcoming that.”
What does it mean to conquer this racetrack and win here at Chicago?
“Man, I don’t even know. I really don’t know what to say. I am just really proud of this team, and it means a lot to win here and finally get a win at a road course. To do something like this is really special.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline Camaro ZL1
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two.
Finished: 39th
What happened behind the wheel.. did you have a warning?
“I assume I just locked it up. As soon as I hit the brakes, it was not slowing down. I was just going to try and end up wherever I ended up. But yeah, it smashed the car up pretty good. It’s just unfortunate.. I’m bummed. It just caught me off guard. You push the brake zones a little bit more each lap as you’re getting more comfortable, but it just surprised me.”
That seemed to be a treacherous place. SVG got stuck in the same place. How hard was it navigating that corner?
“Yeah, I mean it’s a tricky corner. It’s fast to a heavy brake zone. But yeah, I could have just been more cautious probably.”
How was your car before the rain?
“Before the rain, I was lacking a little bit of lateral grip, but I feel like we would have gotten it better.”
Was there a higher sense of urgency with the clock clicking down?
“Maybe slightly, but yeah, I don’t know.. maybe that bit me. I’m not really sure. We were all just getting more comfortable each lap. As soon as I went to the brakes, it was just locked-up.”
How slick was it out there when we restarted?
“Yeah, I mean it was wet, so it was slick. It was hard to just get accelerated, really more than anything. Under braking, it felt fine until it didn’t.”
Prior laps, was that an issue at all for you?
“No, not at all. Typically, I feel like in the rain whenever I’ve run in wet conditions, we’re always really slow in braking. It always stops better than you think. So yeah, that time, I probably pushed it just barely further, and as soon as I hit the brakes, I knew I was in trouble.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 16 Wendy’s Saucy Nuggs Camaro ZL1
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two.
Finished: 40th
Walk us through the incident.
“I don’t know, I just sort of turned in; it looked pretty good and then just got smacked by someone. It’s gutting. The No. 16 Wendy’s Saucy Nuggs Camaro was really good. We were in the lead for a lot of that race. I felt good taking off in the rain, so that sucks. It’s an unfortunate mistake by him. I’m sure he didn’t mean it. But yeah, when he just clipped me, there wasn’t anything I could do.”
Is it disappointment, frustration, knowing you were the favorite, and now you’re out of the race; or was it just a racing incident?
“Of course I’m disappointed. We had a really amazing Camaro there. Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing, they gave us a great car. We were able to lead and I felt like I was driving well with it, so yeah, it’s a shame to be out so early. It’s a shame we couldn’t have a proper crack at it at the end.”
How was the racing before the incident?
“It was fun. On slicks, it got a bit dodgy. I hated being the leader. Whoever was the leader, you could see them slowing up, not knowing what the condition would be. As soon as you got to the front, you were unsure of what was happening and had to take it a bit easy. But yeah, I had a lot of fun until then.”
Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1
Finished: 12th
“What a challenge. Incredible strategy once again by my crew chief, Trent Owens, to continue to run on rain tires. If the race ended about two laps earlier, we would have had a solid top 10, but we finally fell back to a couple guys with new tires. All in all, we maximized our day, and I appreciate the fight from our Kaulig Racing team.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Mariano’s / Colgate Optic White Camaro ZL1
Finished: 6th
A sixth-place finish, can you walk me through this day?
“It was wild. I felt like our car was really good early on. We drove through the field; got to 15th or so and we kind of stayed there. Then when the rain came, the 11 missed his braking mark there into (turn) six, and I kind of thought we were done because I couldn’t get fired back up. But once we got it back going, we could run a lot better lap times and the strategy just worked out perfect there. I didn’t think it was quite ready to go to dry tires that early. Obviously it was there at the end, so my guys made a good call to keep us out on the wets and get Stage points. Then they told me, ‘hey, those guys are going to catch you with three or four laps to go, but that is the best shot at having a good finish’. So, all-in-all, it was really cool to come out of Chicago this year with a good finish. That is what our car was capable of, so that was fun.”
Where did you feel those wet tires best served you?
“I felt like the tires were good up until the last three laps. I think on the restart and kind of getting clear of the cars behind us, they were very important. There were a couple of braking zones that I felt like the dry tires were kind of sketchy on and you had to stay in line. They couldn’t really peek out a lot and that kind of saved us.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Jockey x Folds of Honor Camaro ZL1
Finished: 12th
Tell us about the comeback.
“It was a good recovery, but I just wish we were going to run the whole race because the 48 won the race and I was right there with him when we lost all the track position. I feel like it was a shame for what it could have been, but all-in-all, we were able to rebound and that is all that matters. The No. 99 Jockey x Folds of Honor Chevy team did a good job at the end of the day.”
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