Bowman finishes 31st at Pocono Raceway

Alex Bowman and the No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team finished 31st at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway on Sunday afternoon.  Despite suffering a loss of power steering near the halfway point in the race, Bowman was able to get his car repaired and returned to the track to secure a 31st-place finish. 

Bowman rolled off 36th for the GoBowling.com 400 at the two-mile track known as “The Tricky Triangle.”  With three vastly different corners, teams always face a difficult challenge selecting the setup they will use for races at Pocono Raceway.  Like nearly everyone else, Bowman faced some handling challenges with his Dr Pepper Toyota Camry during the early stages of Sunday’s race causing his BK Racing team to make some chassis and air pressure adjustments during the opening round of pit stops. 

 

With his car handling better, Bowman and his team began to explore opportunities they had to adjust their strategy and gain additional track position.  After running as high as the 20th position, those efforts proved ultimately unsuccessful as the Dr Pepper team experienced issues with the steering just past the halfway point.  Bowman brought his Toyota Camry down pit road for his BK Racing team to diagnose the problem, where they found the power steering reservoir drained of all its fluid.  The team lost multiple laps making the repair, but was able to capitalize on a late-race accident that removed several competitors from contention.  By the time the checkered flag waved, Bowman was scored in the 31st position. 

 

“We had a tough day today with our Dr Pepper team,” commented Bowman.  “The power steering failure is certainly something that can happen, but it isn’t very common.  My BK Racing team did a great job diagnosing the problem and making the repairs.  Unfortunately, we lost a few laps while fixing the power steering and it’s very difficult to make up lost ground at Pocono Raceway.  I’m looking forward to getting back in the car next weekend at Watkins Glen.” 

 

BK Racing PR