Hendrick Motorsports drops 1-word judgement on Alex Bowman’s final lap heartbreak in Phoenix Xfinity Series race

While Alex Bowman led laps in Stage 1 of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Phoenix, his fans hoped the Hendrick Motorsports star would deliver a storybook finish to the sport’s return to the iconic one-mile track, also home to the coveted championship race. However, that didn't happen.

Bowman snatched the lead for the final time following a green-white-checkered sequence. However, in the final turn, the Chevy star got loose, allowing fellow racer Aric Almirola to pass him and seal the win.

Bowman finished second, marking his team’s second consecutive runner-up finish, with William Byron placing second last week at COTA. As Bowman climbed out of the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Camaro, Hendrick Motorsports clicked a photo of him and posted it on X with a one-word caption to go with it.

“Bummer”, they wrote.

That being said, there were a couple of takeaways for Bowman at Phoenix, as he earned his first pole of the season. As reported by Hendrick Motorsports, the 49 laps he led were the most he had ever led in an Xfinity Series event.

“Hats off to the HendrickCars.com crew. Everybody did a great job. This was my first time working with (crew chief) Adam (Wall) and that was a lot of fun,” Bowman said in an official statement. “Wish Mr. Hendrick got a win there."

Next up for Alex Bowman is Sunday's Cup Series race at Phoenix. Scheduled for March 9, the 312-lap event will stream live on Fox Sports 1 from 3:30 pm ET onwards. Fans can also listen to its radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Alex Bowman responds to Aric Almirola’s antics ahead of overtime finish at Phoenix

Alex Bowman recently talked about Aric Almirola’s last-lap move at Phoenix. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had doored Bowman before grabbing the checkered flag.

Bowman wished that Almirola had given him more space. Speaking of the same, he said,

“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.”

However, Bowman realized that even his brakes weren’t the best. If only his car had better brakes, he could have perhaps entered the corner like Almirola did.

“I don’t know if he had me aero loose into 1 or if I just got loose myself but I about spun out down there,” Alex Bowman further explained. “I figured my best bet was going to the outside there trying to get off the corner. And there was no lane there anymore. Bummer but you’ll have that in big-time auto racing.”

Nevertheless, Bowman will now prepare for his upcoming Cup Series race at Phoenix. In his last three starts, he amassed two top-10s. Now the man has his eyes set on his first win of 2025.