Alex Bowman addresses his Phoenix clash with Aric Almirola with clear-cut animosity: "I'm not going to like it”

Hendrick Motorsports star Alex Bowman shared his unfiltered thoughts on his last lap battle with Aric Almirola during the NXS race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday that left him finishing in the runner up spot. Bowman was in contention for victory throughout the race but got driven into the fence by Almirola on the final restart at turn three and was understandably unhappy with how things unfolded on the final lap.

After taking pole position on Friday, Alex Bowman led the Xfinity Series field for the entirety of Stage 1. At one point, he got his lead up to three seconds on lap 32 on his way to stage victory. He finished the second stage in third place and remained in the top three till the last laps of the race. On lap 197, the #07 car of Nick Leitz spun around, sending the race into overtime.

At the final restart, Alex Bowman and Aric Almirola were fighting side by side into turns one and two but the HMS driver ended up in the wall in turn three after being pushed wide, giving the Joe Gibbs driver victory by a 0.045-second margin. Speaking after the race, Bowman acknowledged that he was pushed wide in a fight for victory, which is common in NASCAR, but was understandably unhappy with the result.

"It's for a win, so that's like part of it. Obviously, I am not going to like it. I got drove straight into the fence on exit. But he won the race. I get you've got to do what you've got to do," Bowman told Bob Pockrass from FOX Sports.

"I was surprised, I was a bit caught off guard with the #7 sliding so far and then being able to get clear off of (turn) two there, I thought that was pretty good. So I think he just got close enough to get me lose into (turn) one with the air and just kind of pulled me back to him. Yeah, I wish things unfolded differently," the 31-year-old added.

Bowman will have a second chance at victory in Phoenix during the Cup Series race on Sunday.

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Alex Bowman hoped Almirola would give him more space

Aric Almirola, who led 25 laps on Saturday, made a dramatic pass over Alex Bowman to claim the victory at Phoenix. He made a door-to-door contact with the #17 car of Bowman and pushed him slightly outside before closing the door on the top lane. Speaking after the race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver said that he was expecting a little more space on the outside than he got.

"I would’ve hoped that he would’ve given me a lane on exit but he just exited like I wasn’t there. Which, he was better than us for sure. But just tried to capitalize on that restart, trying to win the race and got shoved in the fence and the race car’s destroyed," Bowman shared (via ON3).

He admitted that his brakes were also not in the perfect condition for the final restart and that's what made the restart more difficult for Bowman.

"I was just really loose in. I kind of melted the brakes off the thing behind the 7 earlier on the last run. Couldn’t get into the corner like Aric could," Bowman added.

Alex Bowman will start the Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday from row 16 alongside Daniel Suarez. The field is scheduled to take the first green flag at 3:30 pm ET.