Devon Henry
For the first time in NASCAR’s history, an Arizona driver took the checkered flag and a premier series race.
Tucson’s Alex Bowman held off one of the craftiest drivers in NASCAR at Chicagoland Speedway, defeating Kyle Larson to claim his first ever career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series victory.
"It's all I've wanted my whole life."
A super emotional @AlexBowman88 after his first @NASCAR Cup Series win. #NASCAR // @TeamHendrick // @Hendrick88Team pic.twitter.com/Uc79xGE0EL
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 1, 2019
“It’s all I’ve wanted my whole life,” Bowman exclaimed post-race on NBCSN’s broadcast. “I was just tired of running second, I just didn’t want to do that again. This was the last box I had to check off. This is all I hear, about me not winning a race. Now everyone can stop giving me crap, we finally did it.”
The 26-year old replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 full-time in 2018, posting three second-place finishes so far in 2019.
The No. 88 car is BACK in victory lane!@AlexBowman88 gets his first career @NASCAR Cup Series win at @ChicagolndSpdwy! @NASCARonNBC pic.twitter.com/dmDyOz6WAh
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 1, 2019
Bowman held off Larson, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, and Brad Keselowski to claim his first career cup win.
With the victory, Bowman earns a spot in the NASCAR playoffs and becomes the seventh different driver in 2019 to head to Victory Lane. Bowman will visit his home track of ISM Raceway on Nov. 10 for NASCAR’s semi-final race to determine the final four drivers to fight for championship in Homestead the following week.
