The best finish in seven NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen International for Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman is 14th, on three occasions.
While he clarified to the riders who joined him that Wednesday's Bike the Glen was not a race, Bowman still delivered a successful circuit around the road course on a bike loaned by the Corning City Police Department. The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro is hoping it sets the tone for a strong effort when he returns in September for the Go Bowling at The Glen, which had been held in August since 1986.
The race is set for Sept. 15 on the track's 2.45-mile short course and, for the first time, will be part of the Cup playoffs. Watkins Glen is playoff race No. 2 of 10, the middle event of the round of 16 that begins Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
"A little more pressure I guess, but other than that we’re still here to perform at the highest level we possibly can," Bowman said of WGI joining the playoff fray.
"This is the last road course for me that I have circled that I don’t feel like I’ve been able to find really what I need. Sonoma we haven’t had great finishes, but we’ve had really fast speed and the rest of them we’ve run top-five everywhere. Just trying to figure out how to get to the level I’m at at the rest of the road courses here and hopefully we’re able to achieve that this time around."
Bowman, 31, has secured one of the 16 playoff berths thanks to a win at the Chicago street race on July 27 that broke an 80-race winless streak and gave him his eighth career Cup victory. The native of Tucson, Arizona, is 10th in points heading into Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway, buoyed by 12 top-10 finishes in 23 starts.
Prior to hopping on the bike as part of the first-year Bike the Glen program, Bowman gave fellow riders tips on healthy choices and discussed his commitment to helping rescue animals through Best Friends Animal Society with fellow dog owner Dawn Burlew, the track's president.
Question: Your thoughts on being part of today's event?
Answer: Definitely cool of Watkins Glen to have me up here. Awesome to have beautiful weather for this event. It’s something they do monthly, but cool to be a small part of it today. We’re going to make a lap around this place on a bike. Hopefully I make it all the way up the Esses and if I do I guess the rest of it is a little bit downhill from there.
Q: What stands out about this track?
A: Just all the history of this racetrack, whether it’s amazing NASCAR races here or different series that have raced here. There’s just so much history. It’s a beautiful place. Just thinking back to the great races, top of the list for me is that (2012) Cup race that got oiled down and it came down to Brad (Keselowski) and Kyle (Busch) and maybe (Marcos) Ambrose was in that one. What a crazy race. I think Ambrose ended up winning that one. So many crazy races here and hopefully we put on a show in the playoffs this year.
Q: What has prevented you from contending at WGI?
A: Typically I have been better at the pretty high falloff places and obviously this place doesn’t have a ton of falloff. It’s also really fast. I feel like the stop and go has been better for me on road courses. Look at (Circuit of the Americas), you have long straightaways, slow corners, a lot of big brake zones. Here it’s so flowing that it’s just different. I’ve got to do my homework and get better at it. COTA I wasn’t very good at first and some other places. Just need to keep trying to improve and hopefully we can get our hands around it.
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Q: How big to have a playoff spot secured?
A: Definitely it’s nice, but at the same time I don’t think it really changed anything for us as a team. Just need to continue to go execute at a high level. The last three races have been tough. I think Indy was going to be a good day until the late caution and Richmond we just really struggled. Got to be better than that, but definitely nice to not have to be watching the points picture as much. We want to get to ninth in points and get some more playoff points and I think eighth is possible. We’re just going to keep digging at it.
Q: Where does your commitment to animals come from?
A: Obviously working with Best Friends has been super fun. It really stems from I rescued a dog in 2013, I rescued Roscoe. I had dogs as a kid, but being responsible for an animal and going through that made that special to me and made it mean more to me. When I started working with Ally, they were asking what kind of causes I wanted to support and that was an easy, natural fit. We’ve raised over $650,000 for homeless pets in the last couple of years and recently adopted another dog. Super cool to be a small part of that program. Obviously Ally does a ton for that, but it’s been a lot of fun.
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare . You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com . To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Can Alex Bowman finally find top-10 success this year at NASCAR Watkins Glen race?
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