To say that Ryan Blaney was furious would be an understatement. Tempers were flaring at Talladega Superspeedway after Alex Bowman cut short the Team Penske driver’s Round of 12 race. While the incident showed poor judgment from Rick Hendrick’s superstar, the 31-year-old was the first to accept blame, admitting that his wrong decision cost the reigning Cup Series champion some valuable points. Ross Chastain was caught in the crossfire as well, resulting in his No. 1 Chevy catching fire after the incident.
With the final Round of 12 race at the Charlotte Roval on the horizon, it will be interesting to see how the incident affects their progression into the next playoff round. As things stand, Blaney is just one point behind Bowman in the driver standings. Could we see some sort of retaliation at the Bank of America ROVAL 400?
Alex Bowman rues mistakes made at Talladega Superspeedway
The stakes were higher than ever at Talladega Superspeedway. Even though the 2.66-mile oval has a reputation for high-speed multi-car wrecks, nobody would have predicted the level of carnage that was seen at the 2024 YellaWood 500. The race featured a 28-car wreck, the biggest in Cup Series history, along with other, relatively minor on-track incidents. Ryan Blaney saw his race come to a premature end on the final lap of Stage 2 after Alex Bowman made contact with his No. 12 Ford Mustang from behind the middle lane, sending him spinning into Ross Chastain. As a result, both drivers ended up hitting the outside wall, and their cars sustained heavy damage.
Speaking to FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass after the race, an apologetic Alex Bowman said, “Overall kind of disappointed in myself. Made the wrong move a lot, crashed the #12 which is a shi**y push. Obviously just trying to push him to help our lane for the stage you know. Hate that I did that, hate that I made the wrong decisions, I didn’t do a very good job today. Frustrated, we had a really good Camaro, the team did a really good job. Obviously, we had moments that we were really good but just execution-wise, I made too many mistakes and put us in too many bad spots. Obviously hate that I ruined some other guys’ race too.”
Ahead of the race at Talladega, Bowman had indicated that he would employ an aggressive strategy at the 2.66-mile oval. While his strength lies on road courses, having won his only race of the season at the Chicago Street Course earlier this year, the No. 48 driver knew that racing hard would be key to a respectable finish in the race. Overtime restarts are not uncommon at the ‘Dega’ and making use of cautions could make or break a driver’s race at NASCAR’s longest track. However, it’s fair to say that the strategy backfired. Not only did Alex Bowman finish the race in 16th place, but his driving style affected the outcome of other drivers as well.
With just one race remaining before the Round of 8 begins, both Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney are in a precarious position. The Hendrick Motorsports driver occupies fifth place in the driver standings, one point ahead of his Team Penske rival, who is breathing down his neck in sixth place. With both drivers not having much of a cushion separating them from the elimination cutline, there will be little margin for error at the Charlotte Roval. Will they remain in the title hunt at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when the next playoff round begins? Time will tell.
Blaney expresses his frustration towards Bowman’s on-track antics
Ryan Blaney was one of the favorites heading into the race at Talladega Superspeedway. Why wouldn’t he be? The Team Penske driver won the 2023 YellaWood 500 last year, a result that was crucial in his championship victory at Phoenix Raceway. He also finished runner-up on the 2.66-mile oval during the fall race of the 2022 season, showing that he knows the track’s layout like the back of his hand. Had it not been for the incident with Alex Bowman, the 30-year-old could have secured a top-ten finish; instead, he finished the race second-last, just ahead of Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.
Speaking after the race, Blaney told Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut, “We were probably running fifth or sixth, and then the 48 [Alex Bowman] just drove straight through me in the trioval. Wrecked the f*** out of me. I don’t know what he’s thinking.” The Team Penske driver went on to say, “I thought he would have more sense than that but obviously he didn’t. I see him coming, you’re gonna have to lift a little bit. You can’t just run through somebody in the trioval but he did.”
Despite lady luck not being on Blaney’s side at Talladega Superspeedway, the Ohio native will look to make amends at Charlotte Roval’s hybrid road course/oval. With a spot in the Round of 8 on the line, the reigning champion will know how important it will be to collect valuable stage points and finish high at the end of the race.
The Bank of America ROVAL 400 will see four drivers being eliminated from the title challenge, and Blaney will hope to steer clear of Alex Bowman to not become another victim of an on-track incident.
