Alex Bowman Acquits Jimmie Johnson’s Star as He Unmasks the Real Culprit Behind the Texas Wipeout

Texas hasn’t mostly rolled out the welcome mat for Alex Bowman, who came into the race with an average finish of 23.9 across 14 starts, only managing to crack the top 5 twice and the top 10 twice. This time around, it looked like he might be able to sneak another top-10 finish. But his shot at another solid finish took a nosedive during a sequence that Fox Live didn’t catch.

Christopher Bell slammed into the wall, which was soon followed by a wreck involving John Hunter Nemechek and Alex Bowman on lap 101. Interestingly, Bowman didn’t point fingers at Bell or Nemechek for the pile-up; instead, he shouldered the blame on his own team’s missteps.

Alex Bowman didn’t shy away from pointing fingers 

During the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400, Christopher Bell lost control while exiting Turn 4, sending his #20 JGR Toyota slamming tail-first into the SAFER barrier, wreaking havoc on his car. Moments later, in a bid to dodge the chaos, Alex Bowman spun out near the pit road entry. His #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet got clipped by John Hunter Nemechek, causing further mayhem. Despite the team’s efforts to mend the #48, they couldn’t beat the clock on the damaged vehicle policy, leading to Bowman’s first DNF of 2024.

In his post-race chat, Bowman cleared the air, emphasizing a pit road mishap that left him in a precarious spot in the pack: “I mean really what started it is what happened on Pit Road and getting buried back there. I mean we should have been up in the top 10. But yeah I mean just racing those guys really hard uh I was in a really bad spot to have a guy crash [in front of me] and have to climb in the brake pedal and um the 22 [Joey Logano] saw it before I did just because of how we were all stacked up.”

He continued, “And um I had to climb in the brake pedal a little hard than I wanted to and it just spun out as soon as I did. So, uh definitely a bummer. Had a really fast race car. There in the beginning of the first stage we’re going through the field pretty well and um just had that deal on Pit Road put us in the back and then that happens.”

Kyle Larson got into the lead after the major wreck, with Denny Hamlin hot on his heels. #11, who was driving a speedy car, was spun out with just two laps left. Then, in a twist during the final lap, Ross Chastain, who was right behind winner Chase Elliott in second place, also spun out. It was a rough day for anyone running in P2.

John Hunter Nemechek, Jimmie Johnson‘s driver, who ended up in P34, had a tough time too. However, in his post-race interview, Nemechek didn’t point fingers or blame anyone for the day’s events.

John Hunter Nemechek didn’t buy into the idea that #48’s hard braking was to blame for his crash

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Bowman felt his sharp braking might have triggered his wreck and subsequently involved Nemechek’s #48, but Nemechek shrugged it off as just part of racing.

“Yeah so he started spinning and then I did the same thing. I hit the brakes pretty hard and it spun and I had nowhere to go. It’s part of it I guess. We fixed the toe and had a really fast uh Toyota Camry X SE there. And then the second one there I just drove in on the outside of the two and it snapped. I guess it’s part of this car. I guess I learned a lesson the hard way,” #48 explained.

When asked whether the reported bumps in turns 2 and 4 might have contributed to his troubles, he flatly denied it, “No, it wasn’t.” Well, what did you think of today’s yellow-painted race? Drop us a comment and let us know!