NASCAR winner gets stuck in mud at Chicagoland | Sports News

A NASCAR victory celebration took an sudden flip after the latest winner at Chicagoland Speedway discovered himself stuck in the mud.

Alex Bowman held off a late charge from Kyle Larson to secure the primary NASCAR Cup Series victory of his profession in 2019, capping a dominant day for Hendrick Motorsports at Chicagoland Speedway. The race gave the impression to be slipping away from Bowman in the closing phases as Larson erased a three-second deficit and surged into the lead with solely a handful of laps remaining.

However, Bowman responded brilliantly. With six laps to go, he mounted a counterattack, pulling alongside Larson on the backstretch and utilizing a facet draft exiting Turn 2. The transfer disrupted Larson’s momentum heading into Turn 3, permitting Bowman to reclaim the lead and take control of the race as soon as again.

Bowman finally led 88 laps and at the time grew to become the primary Hendrick Motorsports driver different than Chase Elliott to win a Cup Series race for the reason that 2017 season.

“I was tired of finishing 2nd. I don’t want to do that anymore,” Bowman informed NBC Sports after the win. “This is always what I hear, ‘You haven’t won a race.’ I think even Chad Knaus said something about me not winning a race. Everybody can stop giving me c—.”

The race was interrupted after simply 11 laps when thunderstorms swept by way of the world. Strong winds and heavy rain pressured drivers and crew members to retreat to their haulers as officers halted the motion.

After a delay of more than three hours, racing ultimately resumed, and Bowman went on to secure the victory. In the thrill of the second, nevertheless, he bumped into an sudden downside during his celebration. Pulling by way of the infield grass to mark the win, Bowman’s car — geared up with slick tires that provided little grip off the racing floor — grew to become stuck in the muddy grass, leaving him stranded on national tv.

“I’m stuck. I made a really bad life choice. I came down here in the dirt and forgot about the rain delay,” Bowman stated of getting stuck in the grass. They’re going to need to tow me out. Like, it’s not going wherever. So, I’m the dumb man that received the race and received the car stuck in the mud.I can’t consider I did that. But, I suppose you’ll have that in large time auto racing. I used to be simply attempting to go bogging on the market. We needed some knobby tires to make that occur.”

NASCAR returns to the Chicagoland Speedway after a six 12 months absence. Bowman has endured a difficult season, with medical points disrupting his marketing campaign and limiting his time on the monitor. The NASCAR Cup Series driver missed 4 races whereas coping with vertigo, raising questions on his future behind the wheel of the No. 48 car.

Despite the setbacks and a lack of constant outcomes in 2026, it seems the group has now made a determination concerning Bowman’s future “The team would like to see Alex Bowman return next year,” The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi stated on a current installment of the Dirty Mo Overdrive. “He has proven that, in the right situation, he can win races and the sponsor, Ally, likes him a lot.

“But a lot of this is going to be up to Alex and whether or not he wants to continue doing this or not in this situation … It’s going to be his decision primarily whether he wants to continue to do this or not … The 48 team would like to see him continue in that car.”