BOWMAN PARKS IN FAMILIAR SPOT

Moments after he smoked the field at Dover, Del., Alex Bowman channeled fictional goofball NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby as flames simmered under the left rear of his Chevy.

“Help me Tom Cruise, I’m on fire,” he said, quoting a popular line from “Talladega Nights.”

At Hendrick Motorsports, if you ain’t first, you’re, well, at Dover it was second, third and fourth.

Bowman parked the No. 48 Chevrolet in its familiar spot in victory lane at Dover International Speedway, leading a 1-2-3-4 finish for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday.

Bowman — who described himself as a “race car driver slash weirdo” — led Hendrick to only the fourth top-four sweep by a single team in NASCAR Cup Series history. Kyle Larson led a race-high 263 laps and finished second, Chase Elliott was third and William Byron fourth.

The milestones kept coming at the Monster Mile. Hendrick Motorsports won its 267th career NASCAR race, one shy of the team record held by Petty Enterprises.

“I want to be the guy that get those wins for Mr. H,” Bowman said.

Not so fast, said Larson. “I hope I’m the driver to do it,” Larson said.

Bowman won his second race of the season and passed 1,000 laps led in his career. But the victory celebration at the Monster Mile had to seem familiar for Hendrick Motorsports. Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion now in IndyCar, won a track-record 11 times at Dover in the 48.

Elsewhere

John Force won yet again at age 72, topping the Funny Car field in the NHRA FourWide Nationals at Concord, N.C., for his record 152nd event victory. Force beat J.R. Todd, Cruz Pedregon and Alexis DeJoria in the final with a 3.916-second run at 328.78 mph in a Chevrolet Camaro. Steve Torrence won in Top Fuel, Dallas Glenn in Pro Stock and Steve Johnson in Pro Stock Motorcycle.