Alex Bowman and the RAB Racing team headed to Bristol Motor Speedway to compete in Saturday’s Grit Chips 300. The team proved that they had a fast Toyota Camry, finishing 14th in Bowman’s first start at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile and taking over the lead in the Rookie of the Year Battle.
Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway started off great as the team practiced near the front in both sessions. In the first practice session, the No. 99 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Toyota Camry ran the second fastest time at a 15.49, while making a mock qualifying run. In the second practice the team primarily worked on their race and long green flag run setup, setting the seventh fastest time at a 15.57. The team did have some bad luck in practice as a tire malfunction slowed down their progress, losing valuable practice time.
Saturday began with a 15th-place qualifying effort for the Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 300. “It’s not exactly what we were hoping for,” said Bowman. “We definitely had a car capable of qualifying on the pole but I just didn’t push it as hard as I needed to. I knew we had a good car for the race, knew I was locked into the race and just didn’t want to hurt the car and that set of tires trying to push too hard, but it kind of back fired. Qualifying is so important at this track because it’s hard to pass and come through the field. It’s something I’ll get right for the next time we come here.”
The race began with the Bowman going to the front, reaching as high as 11th position as soon as the green flag dropped, but it was evident that something was wrong. “Since we missed a lot of practice time in the second session due to a bad tire, we didn’t get the necessary test time when the track had a lot of rubber on it,” said Bowman. “That translated into just missing the setup when the track took rubber in the middle of the race. It completely changed the handling of the car and we just didn’t have the practice time to make the necessary adjustments. I really had my hands full.”
Bowman and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital RAB Racing Toyota Camry finished in 14th place, the last car on the lead lap. They moved up two positions in the driver’s point standings to eighth place, and took over the lead in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, two points ahead of Kyle Larson.
Alex Bowman: “A long time ago, if you would have told me that one day I would have been disappointed with a 14th place finish in my first tip to Bristol in a NASCAR Nationwide Series car, I would have thought you were crazy. The level this RAB Racing team is at right now is incredible. We can easily challenge for wins every week in this series, and that’s the reason I’m disappointed in the finish. If it wasn’t for a few small issues, we could have been a contender this week, but looking at the big picture I learned a lot about this track and this car and I’m extremely happy the car is in one piece. On to California where I know the alliance with Toyota Racing Development will pay huge dividends being their home track and having a strong speedway program.”
RAB Racing and Bowman look to continue their climb up the point standings next week and head to the AAA Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California for the Royal Purple 300 on Saturday March 23rd.
