After a controversial P2 at the Daytona 500, Alex Bowman scored his second top-5 of the season in Bristol. For those who believe the scrutiny surrounding his No. 48 seat is bad now, you should’ve seen the negative sentiments targeting Bowman before he won the Street Race in Chicago.

Despite severe tire falloff, the 31-year-old HMS driver exceeded expectations, advancing from 29th to finish 4th at Bristol. Especially, after witnessing a track-record 54 lead changes, and Denny Hamlin’s triumph back in March, Bowman is gearing up for a stronger performance in the Night Race at Bristol in a couple of weeks, following some insightful discussions. 

Alex Bowman’s take on Bristol’s old-school tire management

After Watkins Glen, playoff contender Alex Bowman will return to Bristol, aiming for a Round of 12 spot if he doesn’t secure one at the NY road circuit. The No. 48 driver has excelled on nearly every short track, including victories at Richmond and Martinsville in his standout 2021 season, but a win at Bristol remains elusive. His recent interview on NASCAR Live Wide Open with Mike Bagley highlights his excitement for another chance at Bristol.

Mike Bagley emphasized the cutoff race aspect of the Bristol Night Race and reminisced about the March encounter to ask Bowman, “When you reflect back to that spring weekend, what do you remember about it?”

Bowman replied, “I mean, I think we all saw it a little bit in practice and predicted that it could do that, but we weren’t sure… Like, I think the tire is the same, and the track treatment’s the same, and all that is going to be the same. But the weather will probably be different. So just have to wait and see what happens.”

As the discussion evolved around tires being worn out, Alex Bowman gave his nuanced opinions. He said, “I think a lot of what we do is like just drive the car at 110, block everybody, and race like idiots at times,” said Bowman. “And you know, the critical thinking side of like, ‘how do I make this right front tire live for 10 laps longer than the guy?’ So I can better myself for the rest of the day.”

He further explained, “That stuff is much more of what I grew up doing,” but in Bowman’s eyes, the Cup Series has “turned into this super overly aggressive thing in the last four or five years.” As they rolled down their conversations to the end, this play-off contender mused, “So definitely it has just been a learning process… I like the old-school side of the Tire management or things like that. I like different stuff because a lot of what we do is the same thing that I’ve done for the last 10 years.”

Currently sixth in the playoff standings, Alex Bowman looks poised for a deep run. However, changes are expected at Bristol, where a July Goodyear tire test aimed to solve rapid tire cording on the concrete surface. Goodyear is also introducing a new tire at Watkins Glen this weekend, and Bowman will need to stay sharp to crack the top 10 there for the first time.

Watkins Glen tests a new challenge

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According to ‘Goodyear’s Fast Facts’ for WGI, teams will receive “2 sets (of tires) for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 6 sets for the race.”

But the big outlier has, of course, been a new tire that’s coming to switch up racing completely at the superspeedway of NASCAR road courses.  Goodyear’s director of racing, Greg Stucker, announced, “Based on our test, and a subsequent WFT test with the manufacturers, we should see around three seconds of fall-off per lap over a run (with these new tires).”

“That, of course, can mean more passing throughout the race. It’s always tricky on road courses as drivers take advantage of a limited number of ‘passing zones,’ so the increased fall-off should lead to more comers and goers as some drivers manage their tires and gain on the field as the runs go on,” elaborated Stucker.

Likewise, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie, and John Hunter Nemechek were the drivers at the tire test back in July. This was after Austin Cindric, and Tyler Reddick, along with Daniel Suarez, ran one in June.

During the July test, most opted for the PJ1 Trackbite used previously on the racetrack to increase traction, instead of the resin compound that was applied last time around at the Food City 500. On that note, the drivers have a lot of changes to deal with at Bristol on the Sunday after next. For starters, they’ll be night racing. It is still unclear if Goodyear will bring along their option tires for this race, although it does seem unlikely. But their next challenge arrives in Watkins Glen this Sunday.