Alex Bowman talks complex engineering of the NASCAR Cup Series chassis
Shane Walters
Bowman builds his own dirt cars and still doesn’t understand cup car engineering
NASCAR has intensified the penalties for failing inspection in 2019. The penalties are higher and at the same time, the tolerance for failed inspections is reduced.
Ahead of qualifying for the race, it only takes two failed inspections to have you car chief ejected for the race weekend. Chase Elliott, Ty Dillon and Austin Dillon all suffered that penalty ahead of Daytona 500 qualifying.
If a car fails post-race inspection, that car will be disqualified. The win will be removed from the record books and all benefits, prize money and the trophy will be stripped.
Bowman is in his fourth year of competition in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. After 117 races, he’s as confused as ever when it comes to the NASCAR chassis setup.
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“I’m more focused on just getting that first win before I worry about if it’s going to go through tech or not,” Alex Bowman stated from the Daytona International Speedway media center.
“As a driver, you can’t be worried about that all the time. I feel like I’m one of the more mechanically knowledgeable drivers in the garage.”
“I built and raced my own race cars all winter. Literally we build our own chassis and everything. I still don’t understand half the stuff on these cup cars.”
Alex Bowman went dirt midget racing over the NASCAR off-season. He built and hauled his own equipment to compete in high profile dirt racing events like the Chili Bowl Nationals.
“It literally takes a team of engineers, laptops and all kinds of stuff to run them. There’s not a driver that’s going to know everything that’s going on in their race cars. It’s just not going to happen.”
“I’m just worried about driving it. We gotta go win those races first. We haven’t been close to that yet.”
Bowman is set to start on the front row for Sunday’s Daytona 500 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He’ll start alongside his teammate of William Byron.