Bowman Aiming To Silence His Doubters After Strong Start

Alex Bowman (right) is off to one of the better starts to a season in his NASCAR Cup Series career. (HHP/Tom Copeland photo)

LAS VEGAS – Alex Bowman believes it’s officially time for those sleeping on him to acknowledge the fact he’s reestablished himself as a legitimate weekly contender in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Despite being overlooked yet again in the early stages of 2025, the driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet is proving to be too good to ignore in his eighth full-time campaign with Hendrick Motorsports.

Leaving Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, there are just two drivers who've placed inside the top 10 in four out of five races this season: Bowman and his Hendrick teammate, Daytona 500 winner and series point leader William Byron.

In order to secure his fourth quality finish, Bowman had to rally from being a lap down to start stage two in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 in Sin City.

After showing prominent speed by leading laps and placing second in the opening 80-lap segment, he had to dive to pit road as soon as the race resumed due to a tire vibration.

It made for the third consecutive race where the 31-year-old dropped to 34th or lower in the running order and was still able to rebound for a top 10, placing seventh in the final Las Vegas results.

As a result, Bowman sits fifth in the standings with an 11th-place average finish, good enough for third-best in the field behind Byron and three-time season winner Christopher Bell.

Getting off to a hot start is hardly an anomaly for Bowman, considering he led the standings at this point as recently as 2023. Many are also quick to forget the Tucson, Ariz., driver was top five in points through five races back in 2020, where he went on to finish a career-best sixth in the standings.

On top of being able to respond to adversity, what’s made Bowman’s start so impressive is the fact that it’s his best since a fractured vertebra in his back – suffered in a sprint car incident – derailed his efforts in 2023, and that it’s a continuation of momentum regained late last season.

After getting sidelined by injuries in two straight years, Bowman completed a full season in 2024 and put up career-best numbers, with eight top fives and 17 top 10s. More importantly, he broke through for his first win since the fractured vertebra in stunning fashion on the streets of Chicago last July.

Getting back to victory lane instilled confidence in Bowman that he could still win races and helped propel the No. 48 team to an incredibly strong showing in the playoffs.

Posting one of the top averages among postseason drivers through five races at 10.8, along with three top 10s, a disqualification from the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL for being light across the scales in post-race inspection was the only thing that kept Bowman from a second appearance in the Round of 8.

Alex Bowman (48) races Michael McDowell at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (HHP/Harold Hinson photo)

“We’ve been talked down about as a group and counted out,” Bowman said, “Something finally clicked [last year], and we were able to put it all together for at least the playoffs [in 2024]. We certainly need that to be our baseline going forward. We’ve all worked super hard. There’s always more to do, but I feel like I’m doing my best to get all of it. It’s shown on the racetrack, so I’m excited to keep that up.”

With Byron and Bell serving as the clear-cut best in the sport right now, it’s hard to argue with the notion Bowman should be considered one of the drivers in the next tier. His results and how he earned them speak for themself, but winning is always the goal.

After getting another taste of victory last year, Bowman is striving to become a multi-race winner this season – which he’s proven to be fully capable of. Back in 2021, Bowman amassed four wins, tied for second-most in the series that year.

The good news is that another victory could be right around the corner for Bowman. Among his eight Cup Series wins, six of them have occurred in the first half of the season.

“I would say [the goal is] getting back to winning multiple races in a year,” Bowman said. “It’s been a couple of years since we've done that. Since we finally got back to victory lane last year, I think we need to step that up, and we're definitely capable of making that happen. I mean, if we take the (2024) playoffs, I feel like that’s a team that's going to win multiple races, right? So, we just need to keep that intensity throughout the entire season.

“That’s the biggest thing, and I think we can do it.”

Bowman will have his work cut out for him this weekend at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, where he has an average finish of 18.4 in nine starts. The silver lining is that he’s placed inside the top 10 in two of his last three starts at the 1.5-mile track, earning a career-best finish of seventh his last time there.

Find out if Bowman can keep his momentum rolling in Miami with the Straight Talk Wireless 400 on Sunday, March 23 at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.