Alex Bowman’s dog Finn has been known to cause a lot of shenanigans. But is it possible that he could have won an iRacing event?
Alex Bowman’s dog Finn isn’t the most well-behaved dog in the world, as he told the Frontrstretch podcast last season.
The chocolate Lab belonging to the driver of the No. 88 Chevy Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series has been known to chomp through books, and last month in the first test event on iRacing while the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports, he caused a huge wreck by jumping behind the wheel of the sim rig while his owner stepped away for a minute. (He’s not the only racer dog to do this – Daniel Saurez’s Papillon did the same thing the next week.)
But on Sunday in the NASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event at virtual Talladega Superspeedway, Bowman’s car emerged victorious when the checkered flag dropped. Who was behind the wheel at that time is up for debate, however, as some Twitter accounts stated that Finn had become the first dog to win a stock car race.
“We have a deal worked out,” Bowman explained in an Instagram Live interview with NASCAR that was later posted to Facebook. “If something good happens, I get the credit. If something bad happens, that’s Finn’s fault.
“He’s a dog, I get to write the contract pretty much however I want and he’ll sign it.”
The latest news seems to be that the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series will try to get back to racing in the real world on May 17 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, with a short-term plan of cramming eight races into a month’s timeframe.
Through four races this season, Bowman has a win at Auto Club Speedway and hasn’t started worse than 12th, though his best finish aside from the win is 13th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He should be locked into the playoffs.
For his Cup Series career, Bowman has two race wins, two poles, one stage win, 11 top fives, 27 top 10s and 587 laps led in four full-time seasons.
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Perhaps Alex Bowman’s dog Finn (and his brother Roscoe) can follow in Norman Pagenaud’s pawsteps and continue to power their dad into Victory Lane, however the rest of the season unfolds.