A fourth-place finish in Mexico City was not a win that would have punched Alex Bowman's ticket to the playoffs, but it was his best finish since Kansas Speedway on May 11. It also marked a turnaround after he couldn't even walk a few days prior.
"I think running well probably made it easier than it could have been," Bowman told Prime Video's Kim Coon after crossing the finish line on Sunday afternoon. "Just proud of the whole Ally 48 team. I put us behind this week.
"In full transparency, I couldn't walk on Wednesday, so I missed all my sim stuff, missed all my meetings just trying to get back going. I had a lot of help from a lot of people to fix whatever the hell was going on."
Bowman added that he had just laid in a hotel bed all weekend, so he did not get to explore during his first-ever trip out of the United States. He did not get to walk around the city and check out any of the historic sites or recommended restaurants.
Heading into the Mexico City weekend, questions remained regarding Bowman's status. After all, he was recovering from a crash at Michigan International Speedway that he said was "top of the board" of hits he's taken in his career.
Hendrick Motorsports announced on June 12 that Bowman had been medically cleared to race at Mexico City, but the team noted that Xfinity driver Anthony Alfredo would be on standby at the track on Sunday.
Bowman was able to take part in every session at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. He practiced, qualified, and raced. He also scored a crucial eight stage points before crossing the line in fourth place. This helped him build up more of a cushion to a cutline after falling to only +13 last weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
"Honestly, my goal was just to come here and make all the laps and end up with a top-five (finish)," Bowman added. "I'll definitely take it. Proud of Blake (Harris, crew chief) and all the guys. I wish I hadn't burned the tires off it at the end, but we were pretty decent."
The fourth-place finish in Mexico City marked Bowman's third top-five finish of the season. It was the 43rd of his career and the 19th of the Gen 7 era. Six of these top-five finishes since 2022 were on road courses.
This detail is significant considering that Bowman still needs to win or point his way into the playoffs. He is the defending winner of the Chicago Street Race, which kicks off the month of July. After that, he has trips to Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International.
"Yeah, I feel like road course racing has become a strong suit for the No. 48 team," Bowman said. "I feel like the strategy that we've had has been great.
"Going to slicks there pretty early and getting back positions that way, we've done that a couple of times and it makes my job easy from there. So yeah, I think we have a shot at a win."