An opportunity lost for Busch and Bowman?

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, and Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, race during the weather delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Getty Images)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After beating Alex Bowman to the finish line for second-place in the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona, Kyle Busch took a minute to school his younger adversary.

Busch felt that he and Bowman could have worked together to track down race winner Joey Logano on the final lap, if they had hooked up nose-to-tail rather than racing each other side-by-side to the finish.

“Just that when the 22 (Logano) got so far out in front, he was a lone duck, and I feel like, if we both could have worked together, then we could have tracked them back down and then the three of us could have gone for the win instead of just automatically giving it to the 22. Just trying to see what his (Bowman’s) mind-set was with it all and figure out what got him to that decision.

“Overall, good day and I need to eliminate some mistakes here for myself on this M&M’s team – the guys did a great job. The guys executed really well. I have a really fast car, so I can’t say enough about my guys at Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota – everybody’s done a really good job and we have some good stuff. It’s cool to be able to have the opportunity to race for a win like that, but it kind of snuck away from us there at the end.”

Bowman used his only scheduled race so far this season as a learning experience.

“Hindsight is 20/20, right?” Bowman said. “It’s hard to see. I was on the top with all that stuff happened getting into Turn 1 (contact between Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin in a last-lap battle for the lead), and I didn’t know the No. 22 was out there by himself.

“So he’s probably right. We probably could have caught the No. 22 and had a shot to win it, but at the same time, he didn’t work with me much all day, either. A lot of guys hung us out every chance they got. So, to come home third shows what a great race car Hendrick Motorsports brings to the track.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.