Grant Park 165 Race Results: Larson DISASTER as Bowman back on top in wet Chicago race

Alex Bowman ended his 80-race NASCAR Cup Series winless spell with a masterful victory in the wet-dry conditions around the streets of Chicago.

Raindrops were falling as the race went green when Ty Gibbs snatched the lead from Kyle Larson with the whole field battling the slippery conditions on slick tires.

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Early gamblers on the wet tires found themselves being lapped before long, and in that traffic chaos Gibbs dropped to third with Shane Van Gisbergen moving into top spot.

The Kaulig Racing man won stage one under caution but then lost a trio of places in pit road as he switched to wet tires.

.@Alex_Bowman has a message for the haters. 🍻 pic.twitter.com/SU4NRzznVr

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 8, 2024

After a two hour weather following after the first stage, Bowman was down in 15th when an out of control Chase Briscoe clipped Van Gisbergen into turn six, sending him into the wall and out of the race.

Larson's lead of the championship sustained a heavy blow when the driver locked up into the same corner on lap 34 and buried his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet deep in the tire barrier.

On lap 42, the race became timed with the countdown clock showing little over 30 minutes to go with the track drying. This year's event was already shortened from 100 laps to 75, but the checkered flag would come after only 57 laps after the delay.

Some pitted for slicks, but Bowman stayed out and finished stage two in P2 behind Joey Hand.

Bowman held on to his wet tires for the remaining laps, acing the awkward conditions to take the lead on lap 51 before holding off the onrushing, dry-tired Tyler Reddick by under three seconds for his first road course victory.

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WE FREAKING DID IT!! pic.twitter.com/xGNey1DmFI

— Alex Bowman (@Alex_Bowman) July 8, 2024

The win came after a sketchy moment earlier in the race saw Bowman spin Bubba Wallace, who later doorslammed the eventual winner in apparent retaliation.

The victory is a defining moment for the 31-year-old, who having suffered a deeply difficult last two years, was keen to celebrate in style.

“Man, I broke my back, I had a brain injury, and we've kind of sucked ever since,” Bowman told NBC after the race. “You kind of second guess if you are ever going to win a race again. Last one we won, we didn't really get to celebrate.

“We're going to drink so much damn bourbon tonight. It's going to be a bad deal. I'm probably going to wake up naked on the bathroom floor again.”

An out of control night would match Bowman's post-race on-track celebration as he spun into the wall on his victory lap.

More importantly, though, his haul of 54 points booked his place in the playoffs. Next up in the NASCAR Cup Series is the HighPoint.com 400 on July 14.

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