The Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway on March 8th, 2025 was anything but tame, especially in the last few laps. NASCAR Chevy driver (and Cup Series regular) Alex Bowman seemed to have the race locked down, but a bump from the Toyota of Aric Almirola changed the course of the race, unsettling Bowman’s race car just enough to steal the win right at the line.
As soon as the green flag fell on a green-white-checkered finish, Bowman threw his No. 17 NASCAR Chevy through a tiny gap in a four-wide pass for the lead. The No. 19 Toyota TRD Supra of Almirola was right on his heels, though, as the two galloped through Turn 3 to take the white flag. Bowman went high through the dogleg turn while Almirola shot low. Bowman maintained the lead while Almirola used up almost every lane trying to pass him.
The No. 19 Supra pulled abreast of the No. 17 NASCAR Chevy as both race cars got a little squirrelly heading to the stripe. Both race cars washed up the track, and there wasn’t enough room for both of them as Almirola slammed into Bowman’s side. The No. 17 Chevy brushed the wall, losing precious speed as the checkers waved over Almirola. Alex Bowman was relegated to second place as his race car spewed smoke from the damage.
“I would’ve hoped that [Almirola] would’ve given me a lane on exit but he just exited like I wasn’t there. Which, he was better than us for sure. Just trying to capitalize on that restart, trying to win the race and got shoved into fence and the race car is destroyed,” Bowman said.
He added, “Hats off to the HendrickCars.com crew. Everybody did a great job. This was my first time working with [crew chief] Adam [Wall] and that was a lot of fun. Wish Mr. [Rick] Hendrick got a win there.”
No Comments yet