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Hendrick Motorsports shared a qualifying update on X on Saturday, showing Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson leading their team’s charge for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The focus was on Bowman’s pole position and Kyle Larson’s strong third-place qualifying effort, a strong showing from HMS in Tennessee.
The post was published by the official Hendrick Motorsports account on X. The post featured an infographic with Alex Bowman’s image and the caption,
“Starting lineup for Sunday in Tennessee.”
Along with that, it listed Bowman starting first and Larson third, with teammates Chase Elliott in 20th and William Byron in 26th, respectively. Bowman delivered a commanding performance during Saturday’s qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway, clocking the fastest lap at 128.675 mph.
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With that, he took the pole for the Food City 500, his second pole of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in second.
Rounding out the top 10 behind Bowman are Stenhouse, Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger, Carson Hocevar, and Justin Haley.
As for other major events from the Food City 500 in qualifying, Joey Logano hit the wall on his first lap and had to settle for a 38th-place start. Kyle Busch spun but avoided damage, locking in 15th place.
In practice, Stenhouse Jr. had already shown strong pace, topping the board with 128.082 mph.
“I choked that one away”: Alex Bowman reflected on losing Miami to Kyle Larson
Alex Bowman, who led late at Homestead-Miami Speedway, lost control of the race in the final laps and missed out on his first win of the 2025 season. Even after holding off teammate Kyle Larson for a major part of the race, Bowman hit the wall and lost momentum, handing the lead — and the victory — to Larson.
Speaking after the race, Bowman took responsibility for the error. In a quote shared by Motorsports Wire USA, Bowman said,
“I guess I choked that one away, for sure. Just kind of burned my stuff up… I hit [the wall] with the right front and just bent something enough that I lost a lot of right front feel… ended up hitting the fence pretty bad.”
The race was shaping up to be a win for Bowman, who took the lead with a move past Bubba Wallace. He led 43 laps and stayed in front until seven laps from the finish. But the mistake in Turns 3 and 4 cost him. This was Bowman’s first podium since his win in Chicago last year.
The performance was a big step up for Bowman at Miami, where he had never previously led a race since debuting in 2014. Bowman credited a 2024 Goodyear tire test for helping him better understand the Miami oval but said he struggled to replicate that form during the race weekend.
“I just couldn’t run the wall well all weekend really, which was what I could do really well at the test,” he explained in his post race interview.
Following the setback, Bowman admitted Larson had good pace and credited him, calling him the greatest race car driver of the generation. The Hendrick Motorsports driver said his short-run speed was solid and the team deserved better.
