Alex Bowman is appearing in his seventh Cup Series playoffs in the last eight seasons. The Hendrick Motorsports driver’s success would make you assume that he likes and endorses the current playoff system that NASCAR put in place in 2004.
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The 32-year-old, however, would like NASCAR to go back to the old pre-playoff system, where the driver with the most points across the whole season is the eventual champion. He doesn’t like the current 10-race playoff format, which rewards the driver who may get hot during it.
“I would just like 36 races and call it good,” the driver of the No. 48 Team Hendrick Chevrolet said on this week’s edition of the SpeedFreaks podcast.
However, several drivers, including defending Cup champ Joey Logano, who has won two of the last three titles and three of the last seven Cup championships, like the current format. They hope NASCAR maintains the status quo.
No one has polled all 30-plus Cup drivers to get their thoughts on whether NASCAR should retain its current playoff format or revert to the pre-playoff format. But Bowman knows what the predominant feeling across the grid is.
Bowman: Most Cup drivers want to keep the current playoff format
As much as he would like the pre-playoff format, Bowman believes most of his fellow competitors would not agree with him.
“No, definitely not. 0% chance on that one, I don’t think so at least. I think the playoffs are important in creating excitement,” Bowman said.
“And I think we all want to sit here and think we’re race car drivers and that this is some extremely serious job that we do and that the little details of being a race car driver are this super important thing, and to us and to people ingrained in the sport, they are,” he added.
“But at the end of the day, we’re entertainers. We’re creating entertainment, and our job is to entertain the fans. I think the playoffs create a lot of excitement, drama, animosity, and moments,” concluded the HMS driver.
Bowman knows the playoff format is here to stay
Bowman acknowledged both sides of the situation. In the old format, some seasons have been tight till the end and others where the champion-elect has been crowned several rounds before the finale. And he gets it.
“I think there [are] people that really don’t want that to happen. So, I totally understand that and even more so, like I’m a dumb race car driver. People way smarter than me decide what the championship format should be,” Bowman said.
“So yeah, I don’t think it’s going to go back to that. I think there is a chunk of us that would like that, and yeah, I’m on that side, but I don’t see it ever probably going back that way,” he added.
Bowman needs a strong Sunday showing
The No. 48 driver comes into Sunday’s second race of the playoffs at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis in a very difficult position. He’s ranked 15th among the 16 drivers who qualified for the playoffs. Bowman is 19 points below the cutoff line to advance to the Round of 12, which occurs after next week’s race at Bristol.
He cannot afford another poor performance in Sunday’s race. Bowman is not exactly in a must-win situation, but unless he gets a strong top-five finish, he will definitely be in a must-win position going into Bristol.
Bowman’s best season in his seven previous campaigns was sixth in 2020. But coming into Sunday’s race at WWTR, he has no momentum.
After tying his season-best finish of 2nd at Richmond, the Team Hendrick driver finished 36th in the regular season finale at Daytona and started the playoffs with a disappointing 31st-place finish last Sunday at Darlington.
