Alex Bowman runs out of luck in Daytona Duels

Alex Bowman won his second pole for the Daytona 500 Wednesday, but his luck ran out in the Daytona Duels on Thursday. Bowman had a vibration in his car, finishing 20th of 22 in the race.

Bowman started on pole for the first of the Daytona Duels but lost the lead on the first lap and quickly fell back through the field. His car soon began shaking, making Bowman believe he had an engine problem.

It turned out to be a vibration in the chassis, but the team lost four laps while trying to diagnose the problem. He also had radio issues to deal with that didn't help.

"Definitely a bummer there," Alex Bowman said. "We have a clean race car for Sunday and have time to diagnose that vibration."

Time to go to work on pit road! 💪The @allyracing crew is gearing up for the first stop of the night under the lights @DAYTONA. pic.twitter.com/uWHsQ6UHHm

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) February 12, 2021

How did Alex Bowman finish the race?

Alex Bowman had hoped to run up front and see exactly how fast his Hendrick Chevrolet was in race trim. Once the problems arose, however, the race became a glorified test session.

Crew chief Greg Ives and his team ran diagnostics on the engine and checked the tires. They will continue to assess the problem and be ready for Sunday.

“There were a lot of things you always think you are going to be prepared for until you actually go through them," Ives said. "I feel like we did a good job understanding it and hopefully we are able to diagnose it and make sure everything is good.”

New driver, new scheme, same 🔥 for the No. 48.@Alex_Bowman | @TeamHendrick pic.twitter.com/b7tS5geIhQ

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 10, 2021

Alex Bowman is not worried.

"There is definitely something going on, but it looks like the engine is good, which is the important thing," he said. "The Hendrick Motorsports engine shop does a great job with our engines and that thing is totally fine."