Alex Bowman, last-lap flat tire at Pocono ends Kyle Larson’s win streak

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

After an intense, nail-biting battle over the last 29 laps at Pocono Raceway, Alex Bowman won Saturday’s Pocono Organics CBD 325 when his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson blew a left-front tire while leading within one corner of the finish line.

Bowman’s victory ended a streak of three-straight wins for Larson, who passed Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet on Lap 127 of 130 and appeared destined to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four straight NASCAR Cup Series races.

Choosing the inside lane for a restart on Lap 112, Bowman surged into the lead, having gained track position with a two-tire call on his final pit stop. Larson spent the next 15 laps harrying his teammate and made what appeared to be the winning pass as the cars entered the Tunnel Turn on Lap 127.

But three laps later, on the short straightaway between Turns 2 and 3, Larson’s left front went flat, and the No. 5 Chevrolet rocketed into the outside wall in Turn 3. Larson came home ninth in his damaged Camaro, his first finish outside the top two in seven races.

Bowman, who announced a contract extension with Hendrick last weekend at Nashville, won for the third time this season, the first time at Pocono and the fifth time in his career. The victory was the sixth straight for Hendrick Motorsports, matching a string of six combined wins by Johnson and Jeff Gordon in 2007.

“Yeah, I hate to win one that way, but hell, yeah, I’ll take it,” a shocked Bowman said after climbing from his car. “Super proud of this Ally 48 team. Man, we kind of gave the lead away. We were on two tires, just got super tight. Tried to hold (Larson) off as long as I could.

“(Crew chief) Greg (Ives) and all the guys did a really good job. We didn’t run that good all day, so I’m kind of in shock. I don’t know what to say to you guys. Hell, yeah, so cool to see all the fans out here. Always like to come to ‘PA.’ It’s a cool place, beautiful weather, great day for a race. Heck, yeah, I’ll take it.”

Larson was just as shocked at the loss as Bowman was at his victory.

“I guess disbelief still,” Larson said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “I don’t know, a little bit laughable, just because I can’t believe it.

“Hate that we didn’t get another win. Would have been cool to win five in a row (assuming another victory in Sunday’s second leg of the NASCAR Cup doubleheader). Just wasn’t meant to be I guess today. I felt something like right in the middle of the Tunnel (Turn). Wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. It finally kind of shredded halfway through the short chute there. Couldn’t turn.

“Hate that we didn’t get the win. Cool that Alex still did, a Hendrick car with another win. Cool to keep Mr. H’s (team owner Rick Hendrick’s) streak going. Yeah, hate we didn’t get HendrickCars.com into Victory Lane, but we’ll try to start another streak (on Sunday).”

Larson will have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field in a backup car. Bowman will start 20th after an inversion of the top 20 finishing positions from Saturday’s race.

In an event that featured a hodgepodge of pit strategies before it distilled into the closing Bowman-Larson battle, Kyle Busch led a race-high 30 laps and finished second, .683 seconds behind Bowman. William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney completed the top five.

“We were a tick—just a little bit—slower than Larson, and we were able to hold him off,” Busch said of the green-flag run before the final caution for debris on Lap 107. “The 48 (Bowman) held him off forever and finally the 5 (Larson) got by and got away by 20 lengths or so.

“I was just dying tight behind those guys. I just could not do anything in traffic. We were just struggling in traffic. We don’t have what we need to slice through traffic. Everybody’s hindered, but it seems like us a little bit more.”

Kurt Busch won the second stage and finished sixth, leap-frogging past Chris Buescher into the final Playoff-eligible position in the series standings. Busch leads Buescher by four points entering Sunday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at the 2.5-mile triangular track in eastern Pennsylvania (3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

By finishing 20th on Saturday, however, Buescher earned the pole position for Sunday’s race.

NASCAR Cup Series Race – 40th Annual Pocono Organics CBD 325

Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Saturday, June 26, 2021

(13) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 130.
(5) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 130.
(2) William Byron, Chevrolet, 130.
(10) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 130.
(27) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 130.
(8) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 130.
(4) Joey Logano, Ford, 130.
(3) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 130.
(1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 130.
(18) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 130.
(16) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 130.
(29) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 130.
(14) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 130.
(20) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 130.
(7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 130.
(11) Aric Almirola, Ford, 130.
(9) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 130.
(15) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 130.
(17) Michael McDowell, Ford, 130.
(25) Chris Buescher, Ford, 130.
(12) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 130.
(22) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 130.
(31) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 130.
(28) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 130.
(35) Cody Ware(i), Chevrolet, 130.
(24) Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 130.
(34) Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, 130.
(36) James Davison, Chevrolet, 130.
(30) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 130.
(32) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 130.
(37) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 130.
(21) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 129.
(6) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 129.
(33) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 128.
(38) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 126.
(23) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 125.
(19) Ryan Newman, Ford, Accident, 96.
(26) Cole Custer, Ford, Accident, 13.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 129.453 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 30 Mins, 38 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.683 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 8 for 25 laps.

Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K. Larson 1-4;W. Byron 5-17;K. Busch 18-26;J. Logano 27-44;R. Chastain 45-54;K. Busch 55-72;K. Busch 73-83;K. Larson 84-91;K. Busch 92;D. Hamlin 93-103;M. McDowell 104-108;K. Busch 109-111;A. Bowman 112-126;K. Larson 127-129;A. Bowman 130.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 3 times for 30 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 18 laps; Alex Bowman 2 times for 16 laps; Kyle Larson 3 times for 15 laps; William Byron 1 time for 13 laps; Kurt Busch 2 times for 12 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 11 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 10 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 5 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 18,24,5,22,4,11,1,99,3,8

Stage #2 Top Ten: 1,5,22,24,12,11,19,48,18,2