Well, this is not the start to the weekend that Alex Bowman or Hendrick Motorsports was looking forward to when they went to Texas. Bowman is not going to be able to qualify for the XPEL 225 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. A flat tire doomed the No. 7’s chance at qualifying.
Despite being P5 in practice, Alex Bowman couldn’t keep his truck in line to qualify. A blown tire ends his weekend in the No. 7 Silverado. This is another spat of bad luck for Hendrick as a whole.
Bowman was in Group A qualifying and before you know it, he’s blowing a tire and getting sidelined from the race.
With the blown tire, Alex Bowman is going to have a lot more time to focus on the Cup Series race this Sunday. Besides, this seems like a race that Kyle Busch is going to run away with. He led qualifying by almost half a second.
Ross Chastain was the other Cup Series regular in the field. He was P2 in practice behind Busch.
Will Alex Bowman Get Back in Top-10?
In the first four races of the season, Alex Bowman managed to finish in the top 10 each time out. He was the only driver to accomplish that feat. However, he slipped just a little bit last week in Atlanta. He was P14 at the finish and will hope COTA can bring another finish of P10 or better.
Bowman is a good road course driver. He’s put himself in the mix of many races on the road. Last year at COTA, after Chastain put a retaliatory hit on AJ Allmendinger, the 16 took Bowman out in the process. It was a two-for-one from the Trackhouse Racing driver.
After finishing P2 last year because of that late-race move, Bowman has his eyes on the checkered flag. Hopefully, he has better luck in the Cup Series qualifying session than he did in the Truck Series. Although he won’t have to worry about not making the race.
It is a little too early to say it, but I’m sure fans are starting to think that Hendrick is cursed ever since those NASCAR penalties came down. It also gives other fans some confirmation bias that Hendrick was cheating to start the year. Although, that’s ridiculous.
We saw this at times last season. These teams unlock different setups for these cars and gain an edge week in and week out. Hendrick started on top and has faltered for at least a week. Alex Bowman’s Truck Series result is making it seem like more of a trend.
