It seemed like a successful day for the fans of Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. With Kyle Larson securing a career-best third-place finish and William Byron following closely in fourth, there was much to cheer for. The HMS team also saw a seventh-place finish from Chase Elliott and a ninth-place finish from Alex Bowman. However, according to Alex Bowman, the outcomes could have been better.
Bowman, the No. 48 driver, expressed his dissatisfaction over the late move by his HMS teammate, the No. 24 car driver, William Byron. Ironically, this incident went unnoticed by viewers at home because the Fox broadcast was airing a side-by-side commercial at the time.
The crucial commercial break started with nine laps to go. Austin Cindric was on the inside of Row 1 with Larson right behind him. Bowman was right behind Byron, who was running on the outside in the front row. Shockingly, the front four positions remained the same even when the cars crossed the start-finish line with seven laps to go, as the broadcast was still on commercial.
However, during the next lap around the 2.66-mile track, a change in positions took place, but sadly, fans at home failed to witness it. Instead, they watched an Xfinity commercial and the in-car camera of Tyler Reddick‘s Xfinity-sponsored car, which was far back in the race.
The full broadcast resumed with five laps to go. Ryan Preece, who Mike Joy announced had been on the inside of the third row before the commercial, had inexplicably moved up to the first row. But viewers were left puzzled as they had no idea how this transition occurred.
In his post-race interview, Bowman shared some light on the subject. He stated, “And, yeah, there at the end, just the 24 kind of zigged left down the backstretch as I got to him, and that broke us apart and let the 60 get up and take control of the race from there. So I hate that for everybody at HMS. I thought we were sitting in a good spot, and unfortunately it didn’t work out.”
This incident at Talladega Superspeedway, unseen by Fox viewers at home, leaves one wondering about the potential effects it might have on future races and the relationships among the HMS teammates. One thing is clear though – the upcoming team meeting at HMS headquarters is bound to be an interesting one.
