NASCAR Cup Series: Alex Bowman is right, in a way

Alex Bowman’s belief that the qualifying lap that would have put him on the pole position for the third race of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Pennzoil 400, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway should have counted is right, in a way.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman recorded the fastest lap of the third and final qualifying session for the third race of the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

However, the driver of the #88 Chevrolet is set to start the 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) high-banked Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval in Las Vegas, Nevada back in 11th place.

This is the case because of the fact that NASCAR ruled that he did not start his final qualifying lap, the lap on which he shot to the top of the speed chart, before the qualifying clock hit 0:00.

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Chase Elliott, one of Bowman’s three teammates, was in a similar position. His lap time was the second fastest lap time of the session behind Bowman’s, but it was ruled that he id not start his final qualifying lap before the qualifying clock hit 0:00. He is set to start the race in 12th place in his #9 Chevrolet.

As a result, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick is set to start the race from the pole position in his #4 Ford alongside Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in second place in his #11 Toyota.

This left Bowman very frustrated, as he believed that his lap should’ve counted. He cites that the fact that “official” clock that he was given showed that there was still time left when he started his final lap of the qualifying session, the one that shot him to the top of the speed chart but ultimately ended up not counting.

Here is what Bowman had to say about the matter, according to Racing News.

"“It’s their sandbox and we play in it. But, it’s wrong. They don’t give us an official clock to look at. Because the official clock that they gave us, our lap counted. The fans enjoyed it. It adds element to it. But, it’s really frustrating. In my eyes, they’re wrong. They’ve made their fair share of mistakes and so have I. I could totally be wrong.”"

Bowman also posted about the matter on Twitter to express his frustration.

https://twitter.com/AlexBowman88/status/1101655478558318593?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

While it would be easy for critics to chalk Bowman up as a “sore loser”, the 25-year-old Tucson, Arizona is right, in a way.

If NASCAR’s “official” clock is only accessible by NASCAR, which seems pretty obvious at this point seeing as how everyone, including the Fox broadcast team, stated that both Bowman and Elliott, who was behind Bowman on the track, started their final qualifying laps before the qualifying clock hit 0:00, why do they bother to provide drivers, teams and fans with an unofficial clock?

It would make more sense not to provide any clock at all, especially when you consider this particular situation. With NASCAR and the drivers, teams and fans having two different clocks to look it, this kind of situation becomes a “balls and strikes” situation.

With the new aero package having such a major effect in terms of changing how drivers go about qualifying for races at intermediate tracks, NASCAR needs to adapt to these drastic changes and implement some kind of change to the qualifying clock so that it doesn’t seem like they are effectively “picking” their polesitter for every race — even if they truly aren’t.

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Do you believe that NASCAR needs to make their “official” qualifying clock accessible for teams, drivers and fans? Should Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott be the drivers who start tomorrow’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube on the front row as opposed to Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin? Be sure to tune in to Fox at 3:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of this race from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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