TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — In a race to defend his winning title, Tucson native Alex Bowman, found himself 11 cars short of a winning title in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series.
After initially naming Denny Hamlin winner of the M&M fan appreciation 400, a shocking announcement was later made that Hamlin, along with short-lived runner up, Kyle Busche, were disqualified after both cars failed the post race tech inspection, knocking the first and second place drivers out of their winning titles.
While the reasons behind these infractions currently remain undisclosed, the disqualification of these two drivers shot Bowman up two positions, taking him from 13th to 11th in the final results of the race.
Although the 2021 doubleheader victor was looking for a Pocono 2-peat, from the early lack of speed, those odds quickly became a distant reality.
A slow start in stage one landed Bowman in the 28th finishing position, with zero stage points.
The 2021 title holder needed to bring a lot more momentum to land on the top 10 leaderboard.
What looked like a hopeful start in stage 2 quickly fell short. After speeding up 7 spots from the start and rounding out top 10 in lap 5, Bowman followed with an interesting decision to hit pit road in the final moments of stage 2, finishing 18th.
Bowman’s performance just couldn’t compete with Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliot, who nabbed the 2022 Pocono victory in unusual fashion.
26 points and 160 laps later, Bowman left the Tricky Triangle 11 spots short of a 2022 M&M Fan Appreciation 400 victory.
The next NASCAR Cup Series race will take place next Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Breanna Isbell is a reporter for KGUN 9. She joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after receiving her bachelor’s degree in sports journalism from Arizona State University in May. Share your story ideas with Breanna by emailing breanna.isbell@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
