Alex Bowman was left to rue a rear-end finish after early race troubles and a prolonged pit stop on Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver admitted to a 'really, really slow' outing, but took comfort in the fact that his teammates faced a similar ordeal.Bowman started on the back foot after qualifying 29th on the grid. A Lap 1 incident saw Josh Berry bottom out near the front, lose control, and lead to a multi-car wreck that collected Bowman's No. 48 Chevy.Bowman pitted during the ensuing caution, but his day went from bad to worse during his second pitstop on Lap 68. A faulty air gun left him stranded in his stall for a staggering 40 seconds, and he rejoined the running order a lap down.The HMS driver was able to get back on the lead lap after a free pass, but he couldn't muster a better result than 31st. Reflecting upon the same, Bowman said during a post-race interview:"Just a sh***y, unacceptable day on all fronts, you know. We weren’t great when we unloaded, didn’t qualify well. Got caught up in that first deal a little bit, lost a little bit of track position that we had, and then just kind of fell apart from there.“Honestly, without all that, we’re just really, really slow....Obviously, I’ll have to look at it, but I can see my teammates. So, I assume we all missed it a little bit, and yeah, just a s**t day," Alex Bowman added.The result set Bowman back by 19 points below the playoff cutline, as he tied with Josh Berry for the final two spots in the elimination bracket. Meanwhile, his teammates Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and William Byron finished at 17th,19th, and 21st, respectively.HMS chief Jeff Gordon admits to playoff pressure for Alex BowmanJeff Gordon reflected upon Alex Bowman's title bid and acknowledged his lack of playoff points. Nonetheless, the HMS chief remained confident in Bowman's ability to perform under pressure.“Now hey, they’ve got work to do, right? You get behind as far as going into this first round without those added bonuses and playoff points. You got a bit of an uphill climb. And I think there’s pressure on the 48 team, but I also have a lot of confidence. Alex handles pressure well,” he said in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR radio.Alex Bowman ranks the least among the HMS stable of drivers. He has two more rounds to launch a comeback and survive Round 1 of the playoffs.Next up, the 32-year-old heads to World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300. Bowman hasn't broken into the top 10 at the track, but he'll need a win to guarantee his spot in the Round of 12.The 240-lap event is scheduled for Sunday, September 7, at 3 PM ET.