RAB Racing and the No. 99 ToyotaCare Camry came into Dover International Speedway riding some momentum after a fifth place finish and winning the Sunoco Rookie of the Race award last weekend in Kentucky Speedway. The team hoped they could tame the track effectively nicknamed the “Monster Mile” after a 17th finish at the speedway last June, but after coming up short on fuel mileage Bowman finished in the 18th position.
The weekend started off on Friday with the first and final practice session where the No. 99 ToyotaCare Camry recorded the fifth fastest lap, crew chief Chris Rice and team were extremely pleased with the handling and performance of the car especially long into a run. This raw speed right off the trailer translated into the fourth fastest lap in qualifying at speed of 154.407 mph, the best starting position of any Toyota Camry in the field.
The green flag flew on the 5-hour Energy 200 and Bowman starting from the fourth position held strong in the top-10 in the beginning stages of the event. Caution waved on lap 38 and the No. 99 made a pit stop for four tires, gas, and chassis adjustments, restarting in 20th position after most of the field stayed out on track. From that point on Bowman tried to play catch up, as the remaining 162 laps were run under green flag conditions. The No. 99 was just shy of making it to the finish on fuel mileage, but the team couldn’t take the gamble of running out of fuel under green flag conditions. On lap 180 of 200, Bowman relinquished the 12th position and came in for a two tire and fuel pit stop, rejoining the race in 18th and ultimately finishing in that position. With the 18th place finish Bowman still holds down the 11th position in driver point standings and Robby Benton maintained the 16th position in owner point standings.
Alex Bowman: “Well that’s definitely not the finish we were looking for or deserved in our ToyotaCare Camry. This was hands down the best handling, and fastest car I’ve ever had in my three starts here at Dover in the Nationwide Series. From the beginning we took off really well, battled with the best in the sport and began riding around close to the top-10. I don’t think anyone has ever seen this race go green flag for so long and finish the way it did, and from our first pit stop of the day it just worked out that we came up short on fuel mileage at the end. We made the decision to pit and make sure we could make it to the end on fuel, it was definitely the right call because if we tried to save and still ran out of fuel it would have proved disastrous under green. We will move on to Kansas Speedway, a track I’ve never been to but definitely excited for my first laps as we are always strong on fast, mile and half tracks.”< /p>
The next event for the NASCAR Nationwide Series is at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 300 on Saturday October 5th. The race will be televised live on ESPN and also heard on MRN Radio.
