JOLIET, IL (93.7 The Fan) – Hendrick Motorsports Alex Bowman held off Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyle Larson to pick up his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in Sunday's Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Bowman looked to be in control after the last round of green flag pit stops but Larson's car was better on the longer runs and caught Bowman with 10-laps to go. Larson took the lead with 8-laps to go but Bowman kept his foot in it passed Larson with 6-laps to go.
"This is what I wanted my whole life," said and elated Bowman. "I feel like this is the last box that I needed (to check) personally to validate my career."
Larson's finished 2nd at Chicagoland for the second year in-a-row and said his No. 42 McDonald's was better in traffic versus being out front.
"I wish I could've gotten a win for McDonald's," said Larson. "I felt good about my car on the long runs but felt slow in clean air. I was actually surprised I got to him, but he did a good job regrouping and I'm happy for him."
Team Penske's Joey Logano finished third in the No. 22 Pennzoil Ford and said he may have had something for Bowman if he could have gotten past Larson.
"It was a battle out there today," said Logano. "I caught the 42 (Larson) but I couldn't break that plane on his bumper to get to either side of his car to try to make that pass and then I started getting tight from racing so hard with him and that was kind of the end for us."
Bowman's teammate Jimmie Johnson finished fourth in the No. 48 Ally Camaro.
"Solid performance for our Ally team tonight," said Johnson. "The way some of those restarts unfolded the 88 (Bowman) had a great opportunity with the (aerodynamic) draft and worked it very well and got to the lead, and once he got that control there was really no taking it from him."
Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski rounded out the Top 5 in the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford.
"It was an up and down day for the Miller Lite Ford," said Keselowski. "We just seemed to keep adjusting on the car and got better towards the end of the race. I'm happy for Alex Bowman and his team, they've been really fast and if one of our Penske cars couldn't get it, I'm happy for him."
It was a good weekend for the multi-car teams as all four Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the top 11 and all 3-Penske Racing cars finished in the top six.
Penske's Ryan Blaney finished sixth followed by Joe Gibbs Racing's Erik Jones in seventh. Hendrick's William Byron finished eighth followed by Gibbs Martin Truex Jr. in ninth and Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon rounding out the Top 10.
Larson's Ganassi Racing teammate Kurt Busch finished 13thin the No. 1 Global Poker Chevrolet.
The race was delayed 3-hours and 18-minutes because of rain.
Next race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is July 6, 2019 at Daytona International Speedway.
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