Despite a Win, Why Alex Bowman Does Not Feel Confident About Racing at Richmond

Heading into Richmond this weekend, even though he has tasted victory there in 2021, Alex Bowman isn’t feeling all that great. Of course, for a bit more than a while now, Bowman hasn’t been at his best. The #48 Hendrick Motorsports team has mostly been underwhelming over the last two seasons. But that’s not the reason Bowman isn’t confident of Richmond.

Speaking to Racing America recently, the #48 driver claimed why, when racing in Richmond, a racecar driver shouldn’t feel 100% at ease. “Even when we won there, I didn’t feel really great about that racetrack, it’s just really slick, really difficult to get a hold of even when you’re fast, your racecar doesn’t feel really good,” Bowman claimed.

“Even the fall race last year was really rough on us, the spring race was pretty decent. So hopefully it’s more like the spring for us.”

He mentioned how historically, at Richmond, Hendrick Motorsports have performed better when it’s cooler than when it’s warmer, they “really struggle.”

“Being a night race and kind of cooler in the spring, we should be a little bit better and spent a bunch of time in the sim trying to work on things to get better,” Bowman added.

“We’ve spent a bunch of time in the sim to work on things to be better there,”

After a solid finish at COTA, @Alex_Bowman sets his sights on Richmond, a track where he has performed well in the past.@TeamHendrick X @allyracing

: https://t.co/RxmDpD93N8 pic.twitter.com/XfbMZfaTB8

— Racing America (@RacingAmerica) March 28, 2024

Alex Bowman is determined to turn it around in 2024

After a pretty great 2021 season, Alex Bowman simply couldn’t capitalize on the momentum in the following season. But things got even worse in the year after that, which was last season. After starting strong, Bowman suffered an injury, broke his back, and since then, even though he has recovered from the injury, he hasn’t recovered from the setback. This is something that isn’t lost on him. “You have to shoulder a lot of that, even when there are things that are outside of your control going on,” Bowman said as per NASCAR.

“So that’s just part of racing. As a driver, your name’s always on the door, so you’re always going to have to shoulder that, but this is a high-pressure environment, right?”

Bowman mentioned how two of his teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron, “really thrived” in 2023, while he and Chase Elliott simply couldn’t deliver on the big expectations.

But that was last year. This year, Alex Bowman is determined to get better and deliver. “It’s our job to turn it around and get pointed in the right direction,” he added. For him to do that, the next opportunity will be in Richmond on Sunday night.