NASCAR Barometer: Bowman Grabs First Series Victory

Alex Bowman wasn't about to finish second again this season. He was one of the fastest cars on track throughout Sunday's rain-delayed Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway and spent more than 80 laps in the lead before Kyle Larson mounted a late-race charge to snatch victory away. Bowman dug deep and wrestled his way back past the No. 42 in a gutsy pass that then saw him hold command for the final handful of laps before taking the checkered flag. The win was the second this season for Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman's first in the series, and ensures the No. 88 will be in the championship playoffs at the end of the year.

This week's Coke Zero 400 marks the beginning of the second half of the season and the countdown to the start of the championship playoffs. Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500 back in February, but that race was the last one under the old NASCAR rules package for superspeedways. Chase Elliott won at Talladega under the new format, and that means Joe Gibbs Racing could be facing another stern test from the Chevrolet teams this week.

UPGRADE

Alex Bowman – Bowman drove a near perfect race in Chicago on Sunday. He was the first car able to break away from the field to build a multisecond lead. As long green-flag runs became the norm in the final stage, he was forced to battle Kyle Larson to maintain his advantage and even briefly lost the lead. He gritted his teeth, dug deep and forced his way back ahead to claim his first victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series. Bowman started on the front row in his last three Daytona starts and has 10th- and 11th-place finishes in his last two races at the track. Sunday's win was Hendrick Motorsports' second of the season and could open the door to another successful week in Daytona.

Kevin Harvick – Harvick had a fast car early in Sunday's race at Chicago, leveraging track position and quick restarts to get out front and win the second stage. He was forced to work throughout, being harried by both Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott, but was able to hold on to claim the stage win bonus. Brushing the outside wall early in the final stage left him with track position and damage that he was unable to overcome to fight back to the lead, though. Harvick has crashed out of five of the last six Daytona races but led laps in four of those events. His latest win at the track was in 2010. The team has speed to win but continues lacking in the luck department.

Denny Hamlin – Hamlin used a brave no-tire stop late in the opening stage in Chicago to take the first segment win. Handling and track position left him mired in the middle of the pack for much of the remainder of the race, which relegated him to only a top-15 finish. Hamlin is the reigning Daytona 500 champion and will be going for the season sweep at the track Sunday night. He finished 38th in this race last season, but Joe Gibbs Racing horsepower and teamwork should be difficult to beat this weekend. He has two wins so far this season and has been watching his teammates run away from him. Winning again at Daytona would put the field on notice that he can still be just as dangerous.

Chase Elliott – Elliott's car didn't start where he wanted Sunday and massive changes were on the menu for the first chance he had to make adjustments. After racing his way back to the front, the team had an air hose mishap that lost him 18 positions for the start of the final stage. Unfortunately, long green runs without a caution after that incident meant Elliott couldn't climb back to the front to fight for the win. Elliott won earlier this year at Talladega under the new rules package and has never scored a top-10 at Daytona. Fantasy players should expect a better outing from Elliott this week. Hendrick Motorsports continues marching forward, and Daytona should be a showcase for this team.

Kyle Larson – Larson's car worked best on long runs on Sunday, and the lack of caution periods in the final segment of Sunday's race played right into his hands. He was consistently inside the top five throughout the race distance and reeled in and passed the leader with less than 10 laps remaining. Larson couldn't hold off Bowman's final charge, though. It was an agonizingly close sniff of a win, but Larson and team should feel confident that they will have opportunities to run up front and claim a victory at some point still this season with nine races remaining until the playoffs begin. Larson has three top-10s at Daytona including this year's Daytona 500 when he finished seventh.

DOWNGRADE

Kyle Busch – Busch pushed into the outside wall early in Sunday's rain-delayed race. The damage to the right side of his car was relatively significant and put him in a hole for the more than 200 laps remaining in the race. Matters only got worse when he joined a list of drivers with tire failures at the end of the first stage, which caused additional damage. Those incidents were just a few of the many problems he suffered on Sunday in a frustrating day that even included a fire that poured smoke into the cockpit and forced him to pit road yet another time. Busch was second at Daytona to start the season and led 37 laps. He'll be anxious to overcome a painful Chicago race as quickly as possible.

Clint Bowyer – Bowyer complained of a sliding car and vibration before the end of the first stage only to blow a right-rear tire and spin into the infield. The tire failure caused heavy rear damage, making the rest of his race a struggle and even worse than it would have been just trying to overcome the initial handling trouble. More trouble was to come, too. Before the end of the final stage, Bowyer had endured too much and the car was parked in the garage for a DNF. Bowyer finished 15th or lower in his last three Daytona starts but was the runner up in 2017's July race. This team is in the midst of a slump, and fantasy owners will want to avoid him until that tide turns.

Daniel Hemric – Ups and downs should be expected as Hemric grows accustomed to racing at NASCAR's highest level. Sunday at Chicago was another where Hemric's weekend speed didn't translate into a top finish. Hemric qualified third with teammate Austin Dillon starting on pole, but mistakes in the middle of the race put Hemric out of contention with a mountain of traffic to overcome. He couldn't oversome the traffic and finished 19th despite starting on the second row. Fantasy players still have plenty to be optimistic about with this driver as the season enters its second half. Hemric will be visiting tracks for the second time and applying the lessons he learned. Daytona is his first chance to prove he has learned.

Daniel Suarez – Suarez came up short again with trouble in Chicago. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver seems to be plagued by the team's frustrations of not having found Victory Lane yet this season, and his issues forced him into an unscheduled pit stop and a finish outside of the top 20 at a track at which he should have had a better run. Sunday's finish was the third time in the last five races that Suarez finished outside of the top 15. Daytona isn't the best venue for him either. In five tries in the Cup series his only finish was 17th in this race in 2017. He failed to finish in the remaining four starts. That's not a good recipe for predicting fantasy success this week.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Jimmie Johnson – It probably isn't a huge surprise that Jimmie Johnson was as racy as he was Sunday in Chicago. Hendrick Motorsports has been gaining ground, and Johnson has taken advantage of that surge in performance at times. He did that again on Sunday as he jetted to the front and led 10 total laps en route to just his second top-five finish of the season. More performances like Sunday's will put Johnson in position to break his winless streak sooner rather than later. The entire organization is climbing the standings, but Johnson will feel pressure being just five points above 16th in the playoff standings. Daytona could be another positive weekend for him. He finished ninth there in February.