INDIANAPOLIS — Alex Bowman needed this finish. Not that it matters much to his pursuit of a playoff spot. He’s 80 points out with two races remaining in the regular season. However, he needed this for his psyche as he’s struggled since returning from an injury suffered in a sprint car crash this spring.

“A top-five finish is good after the last couple of months,” Bowman said after bringing his No. 48 Chevrolet home fifth in Sunday’s Verizon 200. “Just proud of the whole No. 48 Ally Chevy team.

“We fell off a little too hard there in the end of the run before that, but that last run we were really fast. We had a little mechanical issue there at the end, but we were able to hang onto fifth. Always want more, but it was a good, solid day for us.”

Bowman has tumbled from a points lead to not having a top 10 finish since the spring Richmond race (13 races ago) entering this weekend. Granted, penalties and missing three races contributed to that too but results and results and at the moment, he’s not in the playoffs.

With two races to get in, he has to do damage next week in Watkins Glen or a week later in Daytona.