"I didn’t have a choice": Alex Bowman breaks down his final lap push that helped Chase Elliott to hometown glory

Alex Bowman came close, but didn't win at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday night (June 28). However, his move on the final lap of the Quaker State 400 may have been the most influential of all in deciding the winner at Echo Park Speedway.

When Chase Elliott dove beneath Brad Keselowski for the win in a crash-heavy thriller in Atlanta, it was Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet that gave the No. 9 the push it needed to seal the deal. He crossed the line in third, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver had no regrets about his role in a decisive moment for the team.

"I didn't really have a choice there on the last lap of what I was going to do. There wasn't an opportunity for me to win the race, unfortunately. But, I think just the way the race would shuffle the leader out every handful of laps... It's a team of us out here. So having a Hendrick (Motorsports) car in Victory Lane is always a good thing," Bowman told Bob Pockrass post-race.

Alex Bowman may have finished third, but his Atlanta weekend was one of his strongest performances of the 2025 season. After staying out during the final caution, when most of the field behind the top eight pitted for tires, he held his own.

Bowman even led twice in the final 16 laps, showing command before Elliott surged from behind to capitalize. Crucially, he avoided the night's worst wrecks, including the race-defining 23-car pileup on Lap 70 and remained among the contenders as the front of the field thinned out.

Alex Bowman (48), Chase Elliott (9), and Brad Keselowski (6) during the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Echo Park Speedway. Source: Getty

Running behind race leaders Elliott and Keselowski on the penultimate lap, Bowman decided to push his Hendrick Motorsports teammate into the lead on the final corner. Elliott had the track position and Bowman had momentum, and Keselowski, outnumbered and outmaneuvered, couldn't hold off the Hendrick charge.

While Keselowski dove in front of Bowman's No. 48 Ally Chevrolet on the final lap to get an identical push, he steered left and took the low line, finishing beside the RFK Racing No. 6. Speaking after the race, a gutted Keselowski told NASCAR:

"He (Elliott) just had the 48 behind him giving him a huge push and nothing I could do to cover that. When we had our cars linked up at RFK, we could do the same thing and we lost that. Then it was just kind of a two-on-one, and fought as hard as I could."

Alex Bowman's Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron (retired early in P37) and Kyle Larson (P17) got caught in the melee. But, Bowman represented Hendrick's best shot, and ultimately, their key to unlocking Elliott's first win of the season.

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Alex Bowman plays a key role in Atlanta but still chases postseason clarity

Alex Bowman (48) before the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Source: Imagn

P3 in Atlanta's Quaker State 400 marked Alex Bowman's second-best finish of the year (after his P2 at Homestead), and he has shown renewed pace over the past few weeks. Still, the job isn't done for the Tucson native. With eight races remaining in the regular season, Bowman finds himself just 39 points above the cutline.

It is a slim cushion in a year with 11 different winners already, and the NASCAR playoff picture is shifting fast. The biggest concern? All three of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates (Larson, Byron, Elliott) are now playoff-locked, while Bowman remains winless.

His recent form has helped, but if two more new winners emerge, Bowman's spot could be in jeopardy. He will now head to Chicago for the Grant Park 165 street race with momentum, but not certainty.