Alex Bowman nets second straight fourth-place finish

AUSTIN – Alex Bowman continued his streak of success Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, bringing home a fourth-place finish in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. 

The finish was Bowman’s second-straight fourth-place finish in a NASCAR Cup Series race and his third Top-5 of the season. According to statistician Trey Ryan, it is also Bowman’s first back-to-back Top-5 finishes since the fall races at Kansas and Texas in 2020. 

The No. 48 car didn’t get any stage points throughout the day, but he put himself in position to let his pit crew propel him into the top-5, even gaining on leader William Byron at one point while in second.

Bowman ended up fourth for his third-straight top-5 finish at COTA. 

“We had a good Ally Camaro. We just needed to hold on to rear grip longer,” Bowman said. “It’s been the same since we unloaded and we definitely made it better, but still kind of fighting the same thing. Blake and the guys called a good race. We had a good day, just sucks to come up a couple short again.”

Bowman was one of four Chevrolet teams making up the top-10 Sunday in Austin. Toyota and Chevy have distanced themselves from much of the Ford camp, with seven Chevys, six Toyotas and only three Fords sitting above the cutline after six races. 

Bowman ranks fifth among full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers in average finish in 2024 with a 12.5 average. He moved up one spot in the Cup Series standings to 11th with his efforts Sunday, moving to +32 to the cutline and -55 to Martin Truex Jr. in first. 

The resurgence is coming at a great time for Bowman, with two tracks that could play into his favor coming up. 

The Cup Series will travel to Richmond and Martinsville the next two weeks, tracks Bowman has victories at in the past. He has four top-10 finishes at each venue alongside prior victories at both. 

Green flag for the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond is set to go green at 7 p.m. ET next Sunday, March 31.