RAB Racing and Alex Bowman came into their first road course race together with high hopes of a good finish at Road America in the Johnsonville Sausage 200. This The odds were stacked against the No. 99 team, but the rookie driver brought his “A-game” showing good speed, consistent lap times, and never getting off track in practice. The No. 99 Toyota Camry qualified in the 15th position, picking up 2.8 seconds from his fastest practice lap.
Strategy was played early as crew chief Chris Rice pitted for gas only on the first lap to get their Toyota Camry in clean air and avoid any trouble while racing in the middle of the pack. This strategy paid off as Bowman conserved his tires, equipment, and most importantly increased his miles per gallon, saving for the end of the race. Bowman was able to avoid the numerous on-track incidents and kept his nose clean through the multiple green white checkereds, battling all the way up to 13th place on the last lap with no damage. Rounding one of the last corners, Bowman was hit in the left rear and spun out by the No. 87 of Kyle Kelley, also making his first NASCAR Nationwide Series start of the season. The contact sent the No. 99 into the sand trap and relegated the team to a 24th place finish.
Alex Bowman: Well this is just our luck in this 2013 season, I had a really fast RAB Racing ToyotaCare Camry all day. I was able to really learn a lot behind the wheel from when we first unloaded to the end of the race, I feel like I’ll be that much better when we go to our other two road course races later this season. The race played out just like we thought, it was a survival deal and it paid off to keep your nose clean and out of trouble. We did just that, avoided all kinds of trouble with no damage to our car, but just got taken out by a back marker on almost the last corner of the race. It’s just our luck this season, but we learned a lot that we can take to the other road course races. We’ll keep our heads up, and head to Kentucky where we’ve always run good, and the track I made my first start with RAB Racing in 2012.
Alex Bowman still maintained the 11th position in driver point standings and owner Robby Benton continues to hold down the 15th position in owner point standings. Next race for Bowman and RAB Racing will be at Kentucky Speedway on Friday, June 28th and will be televised live on ESPN2.
