CUP: Alex Bowman’s string of bad luck continues with brutal head-on crash in Michigan
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
SCREENSHOT: Amazon Prime (captured by Steven Taranto, @STaranto92)
Alex Bowman picked up the 10th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at the Michigan International Speedway when his #48 Ally Chevrolet crashed after 66 of 200 laps.
The finish, which came in Bowman’s 340th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since October 13, 2024 at the Charlotte “Roval,” 19 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 27th for the #48, the 687th from a crash, and the 871st for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 37th for the #48, the 1,420th from a crash, and the 1,994th for Chevrolet.
Bowman’s most recent last-place finish cut short his deep Playoff run at the Charlotte “Roval,” a minimum weight penalty that may have been caused by driving over one of the track’s unforgiving curbs in the opening laps. He’s since experienced similar highs and lows so far in 2025. Two races after a 6th-place finish in the Daytona 500, he earned four consecutive top-ten finishes, capped by a pole and runner-up finish to Kyle Larson in Homestead. But in the eight following races heading into Michigan, he finished 27th or worse six times. This included a crash just last week in Nashville, where his crew rebuilt the rear bumper and sent him back on track, only to finish a distant 36th.
Michigan saw only the 36 Chartered entries arrive at the track, the first time since Las Vegas in March. Among them, Bowman showed speed in opening practice, ranking 4th with a lap of 36.926 seconds (194.985mph), just 0.094 second off the best lap of the session by Chase Briscoe. He only ranked 16th in qualifying, clocking in at 36.977 seconds (194.716mph).
Securing the 36th and final starting spot was Cody Ware in the #51 Jacob Construction Ford. Ware would be joined by Tyler Reddick, whose #45 Mobil 1 Toyota qualified 12th, but incurred an unapproved adjustments penalty after he stopped on the track in practice due to a cut tire. Tire issues caused similar issues for both Ryan Blaney in the #12 Menards / Knauf Ford and Shane Van Gisbergen in the #88 Safety Culture Chevrolet, but neither incurred a penalty, keeping them in 13th and 26th, respectively.
When the race started, Ware reassumed the last spot, 4.681 seconds back of the lead at the end of Lap 1. By Lap 15, that interval had grown to 18.209 seconds, but he remained within a second of the 35th-place runner, which at the time was Justin Haley in the #7 Garner Trucking Chevrolet. Ware was told he was running faster than the next few cars in front of him, and the team hoped that chase would keep them on the lead lap for the end of Stage 1.
On Lap 33, Daniel Suarez pitted his #99 Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet for a flat spot on one of his tires, dropping him both to last place and off the lead lap. Ahead of him, the now 35th-place Ware was told then-leaders William Byron and Chris Buescher were in a tight battle for the top spot, which should keep him on the lead lap. By Lap 40, Ware was running 39-second laps while the leaders were running in the 38.50-second range. Then on Lap 42, Ware caught the new 34th-place runner, Michael McDowell, and got in the draft of McDowell’s #71 Delaware Life Chevrolet. The two were running nose-to-tail – just a few carlengths ahead of the leaders – when Buescher took the Stage 1 win on Lap 46.
Under the ensuing yellow, which gave Suarez his lap back, Ware reported he was “about 8 out of 10 on mechanical freeness on corner entry.” Suarez caught up to the tail end of the field on Lap 49, where Brad Keselowski now took 35th after his #6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford was held up in Stall 41 by McDowell’s car pitted I front of him. Keselowksi briefly took over the last spot on Lap 50 before Suarez retook it on Lap 52, still under caution.
Further pit stops then dropped Austin Cindric to last on the Lap 53 restart, his #2 Discount Tire Ford 2.689 seconds back of the lead. Suarez fell to last again on Lap 54, then Ware on Lap 56, but Ware fought back to Suarez’ inside coming off Turn 4. Suarez then jumped to 31st on Lap 58, leaving Ware to now battle Justin Haley, just two-tenths ahead of him. Ware now set to work on Haley, and on Lap 60, the two were door-to-door for the last spot across the stripe.
Moments later, trouble broke out off Turn 2 when John Hunter Nemechek’s #42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota snapped loose in the high lane, then collected Noah Gragson’s #4 MillerTech Ford. Gragson briefly held the last spot until he led Nemechek onto pit road, both with flat right-side tires. Gragson’s crew reported his left-side tires weren’t flat, but were flat-spotted, and he retook last by following Nemechek onto the track. Nemechek then made another stop on Lap 63, reassuming the last spot as the crew examined his roof flaps and a hood tether. Nemechek expressed concern over the damage as he returned to the track in 36th.
By the Lap 66 restart, Gragson reassumed the last spot by trailing the much longer inside line coming to the green, 2.572 seconds back of the lead. He still made quick work of Ware, who on Lap 67 was back to last, 3.376 back of the lead, and already drawing alongside 35th-place Haley once more. Ahead of them, the field stacked up three and four-wide, creating a logjam ahead of 28th-place Bowman. At the time, Bowman was behind Suarez, who nudged a slowing Riley Herbst in the #35 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota. Herbst slid up the track, forming a fourth lane that also brought in Cole Custer’s #41 HaasTooling.com Ford to Bowman’s inside and Austin Cindric’s #2 inside of Custer. At corner apex, Cindric and Custer made contact, sliding both up the track into Suarez and Bowman. Bowman’s car hooked hard to the right, then smashed the outside wall nearly head-on. The other three drivers spun to the inside, also collecting polesitter Chase Briscoe in the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota.
After a tense few moments, Bowman dropped the window net and climbed out, though he felt sore from what he reported was the hardest hit of his career.
Bowman immediately took over last place while Custer made it to pit road for repairs just before the ensuing red flag, where Briscoe had already joined Suarez back on track. Custer’s crew ultimately pushed the #41 behind the wall, leaving him 35th. Nemechek’s day didn’t go much better as he backed into the wall off Turn 4 and skidded into the infield grass, leaving him 34th. Todd Gilliland took 33rd after his #34 Martin Transportation Systems Ford backed into the Turn 2 wall with a shredded left-rear tire. Gilliland rolled to the apron of Turn 3 before he became stuck in the grass, requiring a tow to the garage. Ryan Blaney rounded out the Bottom Five after his #12 spun entering pit road, then ultimately lost four laps in the closing stages.
Zane Smith and Ryan Preece snag top-ten finishes
In a highly competitive race that saw both his teammates at Front Row Motorsports find trouble, Zane Smith took home a 7th-place finish in the #38 Long John Silver’s Ford. It’s his second top-ten finish of the year and first since Phoenix, where he took 9th.
Ryan Preece also showed speed in a 9th-place finish in the #60 Castrol Ford, joining both his RFK Racing teammates in the Top 10 with Chris Buescher 2nd and Brad Keselowski passing Erik Jones on the last lap to take 10th. This marked Preece’s third top-ten finish in the last four races.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #48 in a Cup race at Michigan.
*Only 16 of the 108 Cup races have seen the last-place finisher complete more than 66 laps. The record remains with Danica Patrick, whose #10 TaxAct Ford turned 190 laps – just ten laps short of the full distance – before a late-race crash on June 18, 2017.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #48-Alex Bowman / 66 laps / crash
35) #41-Cole Custer / 66 laps / crash
34) #42-John Hunter Nemechek / 72 laps / crash
33) #34-Todd Gilliland / 146 laps / crash
32) #12-Ryan Blaney / 196 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Kaulig Racing, Legacy Motor Club (2)
2nd) 23XI Racing, Garage 66, Hendrick Motorsports, Hyak Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, NY Racing Team, Penske Racing, RFK Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (7)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (4)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
