HMS star Alex Bowman calls William Byron’s Iowa win “best case scenario” for his playoff hopes

Alex Bowman, who is the lone Hendrick Motorsports driver with no wins so far in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, is pleased with teammate William Byron's "best case scenario" Iowa win.

Byron's second Cup win last Sunday at Iowa Speedway meant no major shake-up of the playoff standings, and Bowman got to keep his place in the last three playoff spots available on points. He now holds a 63‑point edge above the current elimination line for the playoffs.

Bowman finished in seventh place at the 2025 Iowa Corn 350. During a post-race interview with Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, the 32‑year‑old talked about the speeding penalty and how Byron’s win kept the winner count from rising.

"I mean good solid day, right? We were a little off from where we needed to be to win the race. But really good day, good execution, minus the speeding penalty. And yeah, best case scenario without a new winner. So, certainly is not going to get any less stressful but could be worse," Alex Bowman said.

Byron stretched his fuel over 144 laps, well past the typical 100‑lap window at Iowa Speedway and led 141 laps. He pulled away over the final laps and crossed the flag 1.192 seconds ahead of Chase Briscoe to earn his second win after the season-opening Daytona 500.

Bowman started 16th and recovered from an early pit road speeding penalty, which came on lap 73. He also avoided trouble through 12 cautions in the closing stage. He moved forward to claim seventh for 34 race points and four stage points.

"Honestly, I needed to just not speed on pit road early in the race. That hurt us, but it was a good day overcoming that," Bowman said (via Spedway Digest).

His total now sits at 614 points, which ranks him 15th in the playoff standings.

Alex Bowman in for another tough road‑course weekend at Watkins Glen

Alex Bowman has not yet won a NASCAR Cup race this season, but he has finished 11th or better in six of his last seven races. He has collected five top‑5s and 13 top‑10s with 160 laps led and two pole positions won.

The series will head to Watkins Glen for the season's 24th race. Bowman has struggled at the 2.45‑mile road course in recent races nationwide. He finished 14th in 2022, sank to 23rd in 2023, and finished 18th in 2024. That string marked his worst three‑straight Cup finishes at Watkins Glen. Bowman's career average finish of 21 with zero top-10s at Watkins Glen is ranked the lowest among his Hendrick teammates.

The Go Bowling at The Glen is scheduled for 2 pm ET on Sunday, August 10.

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Edited by Rupesh