Not many viewed Alex Bowman as a serious title contender when the 2024 Cup Series playoffs began. But his performances since have given reason to rethink. The Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) driver earned the most points out of anyone in the Round of 16. One could think that this would put him near the top of the grid in the Round of 12 but that isn’t the case.
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The No. 48 driver sat seven points behind the cutline before the Kansas race. And he only had himself to blame for being in that predicament. In the regular season, the No. 48 team was not a regular contender for race wins. They won in Chicago and came close to victory lane on a few other occasions, but that was the height of it. They did not make it a habit to score playoff points.
And that’s what has come back to haunt them. Bowman told hendrickmotorsports.com, “It was our job to stack up playoff points throughout the season and we didn’t do that, that’s part of it. We didn’t capitalize on that.” Thankfully, he is making up for the debacle now. He scored 120 points in the Round of 16, 17 more than any other driver. This has instilled a lot of confidence in him.
In Kansas on Sunday, the HMS star amassed 43 points by winning stage two and finishing the race in sixth place. He is currently sixth on the table, eight points above the Round of 8 cutline. The ongoing season has been one of redemption for him after struggling to run at the front for over two years. Hopefully, he will be able to keep the good work going and establish his caliber.
Bowman won’t be using past challenges as an excuse
It is said that those who can make a strong comeback after a lengthy slump have the strongest character. That’s exactly what Bowman is doing at HMS right now. Being winless in two years while driving for a team that consistently produces championship-winning drivers must be a hard experience to undergo. But he is leaving his misfortunes in the past.
He said, “I don’t want to look back and use those races (I missed) as an excuse, but it certainly wasn’t good. Yeah, it’s nice to kind of feel like we’ve overcome that stuff a little bit and feel like we’re pointed in the right direction at least. I feel like we’re just finally executing at the level we should be kind of across the board.”
It is still too soon to consider him a genuine challenger for the title with the likes of Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin in the mix but he has earned the right to not be taken lightly anymore. His performances of late have ensured that.
