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Alex Bowman secured his career-best finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday, pushing to a seventh-place run as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s substitute in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet. And he did so while battling a severe stomach bug made the feat all the more remarkable.
Earnhardt posted a picture to his Twitter account Sunday after the Hollywood Casino 400, showing his interim driver on a gurney in Kansas Speedway's infield care center -- an intravenous drip hung over his head and a cold compress on his forehead.
Bowman, who said last weekend that he currently doesn't have any 2017 plans in place, gave it his all Sunday, ending the 400-miler as the top finisher outside the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. It's just his second top-10 result in 77 career starts.
While he wasn't dicing amongst the victory contenders after an early brush with the wall, his gutsy performance on a sunny Sunday afternoon made a lasting impression.