Alex Bowman touches on NASCAR fans’ emotions after P2 finish at Daytona last weekend: "Social media is interesting"

Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman narrowly missed out on his maiden Daytona 500 win as teammate William Byron emerged victorious after taking the white flag, with a caution bringing a premature end to the race.

Byron and Bowman were dueling for the lead on the final lap when the caution was out because of Austin Cindric's collision with Ross Chastain. Since the caution was raised after the leaders had crossed the line, the #24 HMS driver was adjudged the winner after finishing narrowly ahead of his teammate at that pivotal moment.

The controversial finish sparked uproar on social media, with many fans arguing Alex Bowman was robbed of the win. Hendrick Motorsports executives Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon refrained from commenting on the finish, as they were busy celebrating the team's ninth Daytona 500 win on their 40th anniversary at the race.

During a recent appearance on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, the #48 Chevy driver opened up about missing out on a crown jewel win. Bowman acknowledged HMS' silent stance on the matter and touched on how some fans blamed him for the 'Big One' on social media but also empathized with him for finishing second.

"I don’t have access to everything that NASCAR has and I am just happy for William, that’s an interesting situation where I think that teams would have dug into it more if it wasn’t two teammates but at the same time NASCAR would have made the same call. Like they have whatever they make their call off and it was going to be what it was going to be, so social media is interesting, they all hated me for crashing the field down the back straightaway."

"Then five minutes later they loved me for losing the Daytona 500 by an inch, that’s how the world works these days and I don’t want to sit here and seem bitter over that by any means," he added.

Although Bowman was upset about losing out on the victory, he was happy for William Byron and the team.

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Alex Bowman claims to be unaware of causing the 'Big One'

With nine laps to go for the checkered flag, Alex Bowman and William Byron triggered the 'The Big One', taking out several contenders like Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin.

The pile-up was caused by Bowman pushing Byron into Keselowski's #6 Ford, who veered across the track and took out half the field. However, after climbing out of his #48 Chevy, Bowman stated he was unaware that he had initiated the wreck.

"Yeah, I didn't really see what started it. I feel like it started in the third lane?" he told Jeff Gluck post-race.

After being explained of the happenings, he added:

"I can’t even see far enough (ahead) to see that Byron hitting Keselowski is what started it. I knew I had William in a spot that I didn’t want to have him in. But we’re all just sort of sandwiched up there."

Alex Bowman's response has raised questions about the visibility from the driver's cockpit and whether NASCAR needs to intervene to address it.