Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was one driver whose steady performances throughout the 2024 season kept him and his crew in playoff contention until he was eliminated in the Round of 12. After the Charlotte Roval race, a disqualification saw the team and driver fall below the cutoff, eventually allowing the 2024 champion Joey Logano to win his third Cup Series title.
Advertisement
Despite such heartbreak during a year when rumors swirled around his future with Rick Hendrick’s team, the Arizona native seemed upbeat heading into the ever-approaching 2025 season of racing. “It certainly was disappointing and (it’s) part of racing, sometimes. Unfortunately, we let it happen,” said Bowman.
NASCAR deemed the #48 HMS entry underweight during the post-race inspection in Charlotte, eventually ending the team’s playoff run. However, it did not seem to affect the operations and morale as Bowman added, “I don’t think it deflated our race team. It didn’t really change much of what we were doing. I think we continued to operate at a high level.”
All eyes toward the Roval. pic.twitter.com/6SbOtgji89
— Alex Bowman (@Alex_Bowman) October 10, 2024
Despite his Chicago Street Race victory silencing naysayers who questioned his tenure at HMS to a large extent, coupled with always banking enough stage points to keep him in playoff contention, the 31-year-old’s overall year was regarded as a success.
His five top-10 appearances during the final 10 races of the season are a testament to his turnaround. Bowman finally ended a slump in performance after his previous injuries sustained during grassroots racing.
“Obviously, Phoenix didn’t go how we wanted it to, but other than that, I felt like we did a really good job the rest of the season. Martinsville looks bad on paper but we ran 13th at Martinsville with no power steering for the last half of the race.”
“So, we were doing the right things for sure,” he rounded off, pointing out how he felt about his and his team’s performance during the season finale.
“We turned it around pretty quickly”
Bowman also seemed to regain much-needed self-confidence during 2024, coming off two major back injuries that put him on the back foot of performance. With teammates like Kyle Larson performing at the peak of their capabilities and bagging the most wins of any driver during the season, his initial lack of performance stuck further out at HMS.
“I don’t know if I questioned myself, but I think definitely after two back-to-back bigger injuries, it’s easy to get in that spot. It wasn’t much fun. We were so good before I broke my back and came back and we were good for like two weeks and then terrible the rest of the season,” opined the #48 Chevrolet Camaro driver.
“We didn’t start the year (well) but we turned it around pretty quickly. I think we’ve done a lot of the right things and I think being on the other side of it definitely feels good,” added Bowman, speaking to his run of top-10 finishes and what would have been a deeper playoff run if not for his disqualification.
Looking at the upcoming year, Bowman can further solidify his comeback at Hendrick by being one of the frontrunners on the team, especially after a year where drivers like Chase Elliott struggled to keep pace with their teammates.
The Busch Light Clash kicks off racing at Bowman Gray Stadium this next year, followed by the official start to the points-paying season with the 67th Daytona 500 in February next year.
