Alex Bowman responds to Aric Almirola’s physical racing in overtime at Phoenix

In overtime at Phoenix, Alex Bowman was doored by Aric Almirola coming to the line and ultimately lost the race because of it. That situation has a few NASCAR fans online wondering if Almirola made a dirty move.

The only one who can say whether that move was dirty is Alex Bowman. He gets to make that call, ultimately. So, why don’t we look at what he had to say?

After the race, Bowman talked about the last-lap incident. He was hoping Almirola would give him more space.

“I would’ve hoped that he would’ve given me a lane on exit but he just exited like I wasn’t there. Which, he was better than us for sure. But just tried to capitalize on that restart, trying to win the race and got shoved in the fence and the race car’s destroyed. 

“Bummer for that but hats off to the HendrickCars.com crew, everybody did a really good job. It’s my first time working with Adam and that was a lot of fun. Wish Mr. Hendrick got a win there.”

Bowman got loose and his brakes weren’t the best. But that last overtime restart was tough. He knows it is part of the sport.

“I was just really loose in. I kind of melted the brakes off the thing behind the 7 earlier on the last run,” he continued. “Couldn’t get into the corner like Aric could. I don’t know if he had me aero loose into 1 or if I just got loose myself but I about spun out down there. I figured my best bet was going to the outside there trying to get off the corner. And there was no lane there anymore. Bummer but you’ll have that in big-time auto racing.”

Aric Amirola doors Alex Bowman for the win

An overtime restart was exactly what Aric Almirola needed to have an opportunity to win the Xfinity Series race at Phoenix. The semi-retired NASCAR driver got very physical on the last lap with Alex Bowman as the cars came to the line.

Almirola can be very aggressive when he wants to be. He is a mild-mannered driver for the most part. When it comes time to push the boundaries and risk it all for a win, he’s the driver you want in the seat. And the one others don’t want to see.

Now, Almirola will be racing multiple times this season in the Xfinity Series. Alex Bowman will not. So, the chances for retaliation are minimal for the time being.

This race was so clean. It wasn’t the most exciting, but there was good racing through the field. Again, Allgaier dominated. He has led so many laps at that track in the last two years yet he still doesn’t have a win to show for it. This time, neither does Alex Bowman.