The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bowman’s move on restart leads to win
Alex Bowman passed Denny Hamlin on a restart with 10 laps to go and drove away at Richmond Raceway on April 18for his third career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Another week, another agonizing loss for Denny Hamlin.
And this time it was to Alex Bowman, who came from nowhere with 10 laps to go at Richmond Raceway to put the No. 48 Chevrolet in victory lane for the first time in nearly four years.
Bowman won for the third time in his career April 18 and denied Hamlin a win in a race he had dominated to become the eighth winner in nine Cup races this season. He dedicated the victory to crew member William “Rowdy” Harrell and his wife, Blakley Harrell, who were killed in a November car crash in Florida while on their honeymoon.
“This one is for Rowdy and his family. Miss him and Blakley every day,” Bowman said.
Bowman’s victory in the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports came on the same day the former driver of the car, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, made his debut in the IndyCar Series in Alabama. It was the first victory for the No. 48 since June 4, 2017.
Johnson was the only driver of the No. 48 when it was formed in 2001 and Bowman was hand-picked by sponsor Ally to replace him.
Bowman overcame a penalty on lap 247 for a loose tire on pit road to rally for the win.
For Hamlin, it was the third defeat in three races.
At the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway he didn’t do enough to move Joey Logano out of his way to earn the win, and last week at Martinsville Speedway he was caught late by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr.
In Richmond, Hamlin raced with the hashtag #fedexstrong on the back of his car and on his pit wall to honor the eight people who were fatally shot at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis on Thursday. He again had the dominant car and led 207 of the 400 laps. He’s led 483 laps the last two weeks.
“First and foremost, we want to think of all of the families in Indy right now,” Hamlin said. “Awful tragedy to happen there. Our thoughts and prayers are with these names. We will get (wins). We will keep digging. We are dominating — just have to finish it.”
Hamlin won the first two stages and notched his eighth top-five finish in nine starts this season.
“We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end. I tried to warm it up and do everything that I could — just the 48 had a little more on those last few laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom,” Hamlin said.
Last week, he led 276 laps at Martinsville Speedway, but lost the lead to Truex with 15 laps to go.
Hamlin did hang on Sunday to finish second, followed by Logano, Christopher Bell and Truex, who led 107 laps and overcame a penalty for speeding on pit road. Kyle Busch finished eighth, the second week in a row that all four JGR drivers finished in the top 10.
“Denny and I had a hell of a race,” Logano said. “It was pretty fun there for a minute, but here we are third. It stings. We were up there all day.
“The 48 kind of snookered everybody.”
IndyCar in Alabama
Fernando Alonso is winless so far this season in Formula One. Same with Carlos Sainz.
Over in IndyCar, though, Alex Palou scored a victory for Spain.
Palou picked up his first career win — in his first race with Chip Ganassi Racing — by holding off a pair of series champions in the season-opening race April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park. The affable 24-year-old raised his fists in the air when he realized he’d reached victory lane before his fellow countrymen, who both raced 5,000 miles away in Italy earlier in the day.
Palou is only the second Spaniard to win in the IndyCar Series, joining Oriol Servia, who won in 2005 at Montreal.
“It’s just amazing but I think it was part of the job,” he said. “When you are part of a big team and a successful team like Chip Ganassi, they give you all the tools. You have everything you need to win, and that’s why you see so many successful drivers.”