Alex Bowman and Ryan Preece cautioned with a penalty at the Iowa Cup race

Alex Bowman and Ryan Preece both received penalties for speeding on the pit road. In the high-stakes Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway, this could be a costly mistake.

Bowman and Preece found themselves in trouble with the officials after receiving pit road violation fines during the NASCAR race at the Iowa Speedway. Often times, this kind of penalty sends a driver to the back of the field or a pass-through penalty during the race, which costs a driver their track position and race strategy.

The penalty falls within the bigger picture of numerous other pit road infraction speeding penalties given out throughout the 2025 NASCAR season, which has seen more than a hundred of them since the stringent enforcement of not going above speed limits on pit road in the name of safety concerns.

Dustin Long reported on X:

"#NASCAR Penalty -- Alex Bowman and Ryan Preece each too fast on pit road"

These penalties could affect Alex Bowman, who already has a points advantage over the elimination line of the playoffs, and Ryan Preece, who is close to the line of playoff qualification and will want to get in or increase the number on the 10th line.

The pit road speeding penalty is another mistake that is easy to do, but one that could prove to be expensive, especially in hard-fought playoff battles such as the one currently happening in 2025.

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Alex Bowman: “It's not good enough” as he remains the only HMS star without a win

Alex Bowman held a comfortable 63-point cushion above the NASCAR Cup Series playoff cutoff line heading into the final regular-season races of 2025. Despite this solid points buffer, Bowman remains winless this season, making him the only Hendrick Motorsports driver without a victory so far in 2025.

Bowman acknowledged that while the points cushion is positive, it is "not good enough", showing his desire to secure a win and demonstrate his readiness for the playoffs.

“Yeah, it's big for sure. I don't think I've ever finished a race on the oval at Indianapolis, so at least we had a good day today. Hopefully next week we can have a solid day and just finish. I've kind of been dreading that one, but Blake's going to have a fast hot rod for me. Yeah, I mean, a big points buffer is good. It's not good enough, but definitely headed back the right direction,” Bowman told Motorsports Today’s co-host and lead reporter Tim Moore.

Bowman had a strong performance at Dover Motor Speedway, finishing third and earning stage points in both segments, which helped extend his playoff points cushion. Despite some personal challenges, including feeling physically unwell during the Dover race, he praised his team and pit crew for their solid effort.

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Edited by Tushar Bahl